News Report

Another Essex Derby Win!

The Chieftains achieve another incredible six point weekend!

• admin
• 11 March 2025

For the end of the season, games are coming thick and fast for the Chieftains, with a win away to the Cardiff Fire in the bag on Saturday night. The Chieftains faced their Essex rivals on Sunday night. Could the Chieftains take the bragging rights once more for the Essex Derby?

The puck dropped for the first period, and the first few minutes of the period saw end-to-end action. Both teams were trying to get the upper hand, but things were fairly even. Romford’s pace was causing issues for the Chieftains, but the Chieftains passing and movement were causing issues for Romford. The play was becoming scrappy in front of the nets, and both Lawday and Philips were doing great jobs at either end, keeping the scoreline low. However, at 10:28, ex-Chieftains player Megas Kanys scored to make it 0-1. The Chieftains started to increase the pressure on Romford with more attacking plays, the physicality was starting to increase too, and at 13:07, assisted by Ollie Baldock and Daniel Hitchings, Cameron Bartlett scored the first of his night to make it 1-1. The action continued to be end-to-end as the period played out. It really did feel like the game was going to be a close one, but no further goals were scored in the period. Jordan faced 14 shots, whilst Romford faced 13.

The second period started, and right from the start, the Chieftains had upped their pace and were on a charge. Callum Wells took an early penalty for kneeing at 21:52, and Dan Fay took a penalty for tripping at 22:59, it was 5 on 3. The Chieftains were defending well, but the pressure on the Chieftains goals was intense. Callum Wells returned to the ice to make it 5 on 4, but Romford were still pushing hard. At 24:39, Nils Maskalans scored a powerplay goal to make it 1-2, and the game felt like a roller coaster ride already. The Chieftains composed themselves and managed to gain more control, this time it was Romford's turn as the shots rained down on their net. There were some real near misses, with even the Chieftains players smiling as they couldn’t believe how close some of the shots were. At 33:29, the deadlock was broken once more as Cameron Bartlett scored the second of his night (assisted by Mikey Power and Grant Bartlett) to make it 2-2. The Riverside was rocking, and the Chieftains kept up the momentum. At 35:39, Cameron Bartlett scored yet another goal, this time he was assisted by Callum Wells and Liam Chong, and the Chieftains were in control. Romford continued to come back at the Chieftains, but the defence was holding strong. Physicality and frustrations were growing amongst the Romford camp, and at 37:55, fans were treated to a great fight between Mikey Power and Elliot Dervish. Mikey planted some huge hits on Dervish, but Dervish was proving to be no pushover, both players trading blows, but Dervish pulled the shirt over Mikey, and the refs pulled the players apart. Mikey skated over to the sin bin and calmly put his shirt back on, but Dervish looked to be worse off as he nursed his eye. The second period ended 3-2, with Jordan facing 17 shots and Romford facing 25.

For the final period, the first 10 minutes of the period were a very even affair, no team having superiority over the other, but both netminders continued to perform well and absorbed the pressure whenever they needed to. A few penalties crept into the game, but power kills were successfully dealt with, and the game felt like it was on a knife edge due to the Chieftains narrow lead. Talk soon began amongst the home fans if Philips would get pulled from the net in the latter part of the period, but due to the end-to-end action, there was never enough opportunity. A couple of times he nervously headed towards the direction of the bench but was forced back to defend a Chieftain's attack. The buzzer went, and the Chieftains had sealed another Essex Derby win, not forgetting another all-important six-point weekend!

Cameron Bartlett was awarded Man of the Match for this superb hat trick. Congratulations Cam!

If you'd like to see the stats for the game, please click here.

#LetGoChieftains #AnotherHatTrickForCam #AnotherSixPointWeekend