News Report

T.J. Returns!

Fan favourite T.J.Fillery returns from injury as the Chieftains beat Oxford City Stars 5-1

• admin
• 19 September 2023

The home fans returned in their droves for the first league game of the season at Riverside, and as the players came out for the warm-up session, Chieftains fans were delighted to see T.J. Fillery return to the squad after his pre-season injury. The team built by Cliff has already shown what a class act they are, so with the return of hard-working Fillery, this would only enhance the team further.

As we're learning to accept against Oxford City Stars, there was the usual stand off at the end of the warm-up session. We thought the shenanigans might not rear their head this season as Xander Wardlaw no longer plays for Oxford (he seemed to be their only competitor), but we're pleased to report that Keiran Raynor remains King of the Rink and was last off the ice. Were Oxford trying to intimidate the Chieftains? Only time would tell.

The puck dropped for the first period, and the Chieftains went straight on the attack, pressure was immediately being applied to Oxford, and ex-Chieftain netminder Petr Cech who was in goal for Oxford, was forced to make some great saves from the onslaught. Tom Baptiste from the Chelmsford Warriors was also in the squad. He had a fantastic game the night before playing for the Warriors and now he was playing with the Chieftains. He unfortunately got 2 minutes for slashing at 6:31, but Oxford were well and truly camped in their own half. The Chieftains' defence held strong, and the attack continued on Oxford. At 11:01, Alan Lack got himself in the mix and a fight broke out between Lack and Banner, despite a difference in height, Lack successfully took down the Oxford player and they both got 7 minutes in the sin bin. What seemed like seconds after the play had continued, Keiran Raynor and T.J.Fillery assisted Oli Baldock, who scored a cracking goal, and made it the first of the night for the Chieftains at 11:40. The flood gates were beginning to open! At 15:51, unassisted, T.J.Fillery scored his first goal of the season, the crowd erupted once more, and the Riverside was rocking! Just 30 seconds later, James Pentecost got himself on the scoresheet, assisted by Jay King at 16:20, and under a minute later, Hallden Barnes-Garner scored unassisted, at 17:19. Oxford were well and truly on the ropes, the Chieftains were proving to be very clinical and deadly in attack, whilst also holding strong in defence. With just 0:00.4 seconds left, Jay King, assisted by Ethan Reid, scored another goal to make it 5-0. Shots on goal for the period showed that Lawday faced 5, whilst Cech faced an astonishing 21!

As the second period started, the game was being played at speed again, the action was end to end, and after only 55 seconds, Oxford had managed to claw a goal back. Dylan Hullaby assisted Aaron Moody to score at 20:55. In the first period, the Chieftains were entrenched in the Oxford half. In the second period, it was a lot more open and even. The Chieftains were always looking the more dangerous, and their defence holding strong. Jordan Lawday was being his normal, phenomenal self in goal, pulling off some great saves. The Oxford Defence was certainly tighter and less reliant upon Cech. During the period, Tom Baptiste appeared to take a bad hit on the ice and went down. No penalty was given to Oxford, which really surprised the Chieftains fans, and Tom came off the ice to huge applause from the home fans for all his efforts. Unfortunately, he was unable to re-join the game. The second period ended 5-1, with the Chieftains having 20 shots on goal, and Oxford having 17 shots on Lawday.

The third period was played at less intensity compared to the first two periods. Both teams looked tired, there were limited penalties during this period, with lots of open play and both teams playing great hockey. The third period ended 5-1 to the Chieftains. Lawday faced 37 shots across all periods, whilst Cech faced 53 in total. Lawday had a fantastic 97% save ratio for the game, very impressive! Hallden Barnes-Garner was, again, awarded Man of the Match. Well done Hallden!

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

Our next league game is away at Romford Buccaneers on Saturday, 23rd September at 17:15. If you can make it, we'd love to see you then!

#LetsGoChieftains #WelcomeBackTJ #RaynorKingOfTheRink