News Report

Chieftains face the Devils

...with a nail biting end, the Chieftains seal the win!

• admin
• 18 March 2025

The Chieftains were up against the Solent Devils for their final league home game of the season. It was only a short time ago that the Chieftains beat Solent in the Britton Cup Final, could they replicate that great success one more time?

The puck dropped for the first period, and it didn't take long for the Chieftains to settle into the game. They were passing and moving the puck well, looking calm and collected. At 03:08, there was a shot taken on goal, the puck bounced back out, and the netminder was struggling to get hold of the puck, the goal light came on, the Chieftains had scored. Home fans weren't sure if the goal would stand or not due to the players all around the goal, but the goal was given. Sam Russell scored, assisted by Sasha Maltsev and TJ Fillery, it was 1-0, and the Chieftains were off to a great start. As the period panned out, the action was end-to-end, but with the Chieftains definitely having the better part of it. At 10:50, Sam Russel received a penalty for tripping, and the Chieftains were on the power kill. Solent tried their best to form attacks, but the Chieftains defence was holding strong. Jordan Lawday made some great saves to keep Solent at bay, and then suddenly from nowhere, Sasha was on a charge. The home fans were willing him on as he skilfully glided between the Solent Devils defence, he took a shot and scored an absolute belter! Yet another short-handed goal for the Chieftains, scored at 11:53, unassisted, and a superb goal from Sasha to make it 2-0. For the next five minutes or so, the Chieftains continued to be calm on the puck, making some great chances, but Solent were getting frustrated, and certain players were doing their best to rile the Chieftains. At 17:59, Mark Pitts was able to score to make it 2-1, but for the last two minutes of the game, the Chieftains pushed hard to extend their lead further, but time ran out and the period ended 2-1. Jordan faced 9 shots, whilst Solent faced 14 shots.

For the second period, there wasn't really much between the two teams, the Chieftains continued to play their game, and Solent continued in their attempts to derail them. At times there was lots of chirping going on between the players, and home fans were sure a fight would break out at any point. The physicality slowly increased during the period, and up until the last five minutes there'd been no penalties. However, at 35:16, Ollie Baldock received what appeared to be a light penalty for tripping, and this put Solent on the power play. At 36:05, Alex Murray scored to make it 2-2, but with hardly any away supporters, the Riverside was quiet. Once again, the Chieftains racked up the pressure on the Solent goal, and in the last few remaining seconds, Alex Murray was in the sin bin for hooking. He really wasn't happy, and when the period finished, it looked like it was all going to kick off on the ice. The referee did his best to split the teams apart, and the Chieftains were ushered off the ice. Murray went back to his bench and sulked whilst the rest of his team went to the changing rooms. The period ended 2-2, Jordan faced 8 shots, Solent faced 12.

The Chieftains had been gifted the perfect start to the third period with 01:58 remaining of the power play, and they definitely took full advantage. At 41:19, assisted by Hallden Barnes-Garner and Dylan Dix, Sasha Maltsev scored another superb goal to make it 3-2. He was having a great night, and the home fans celebrated being in the lead once more. As the period went on, it started to get nervy, the physicality was starting to decrease as both teams were concentrating on pushing for the next goal. It really did look like any team could score at any time. In one of the charges from Solent, Dylan Dix managed a well-timed hit on Nekroservicius, and he tumbled over the wall into the Chieftains bench. It made great entertainment for the players and the fans, and another perfect, well-timed hit from Dylan. As the time ebbed away, Solent were looking nervous, they seemed to be getting frustrated with each other, and a time-out was called. With only 90 seconds remaining, they pulled their netminder and started applying the pressure on the Chieftains. The defence held strong, whilst also making a break to get an empty net goal, but Solent weren't giving up. The attacks kept coming, and Jordan and the team worked hard to eliminate the threat. It was an extremely nervous and tense time for all, but as the home fans counted down, the buzzer went, and it was another great win for the Chieftains!

Dylan Dix was awarded Man of the Match for his efforts, well done Dylan!

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

#LetGoChieftains #WhereHasTheSeasonGone?