News Report

Chieftains beat Streatham!

A fantastic display from the Chieftains provides a win against last seasons champions.

• admin
• 31 October 2023

There is nothing quite like a game against Streatham! Streatham have long been the bench mark in NIHL1 and the Chieftains have been able to provide great performances in the past and turn them over. It's fair to say that Streatham have struggled with form recently. They've already lost against Oxford City Stars and Invicta Dynamos. Could the Chieftains add their name to the list?

As the Chieftains came out onto the ice for the start of the game, fans noticed a new player, an extremely tall player wearing the number 19 jersey. With Jamieson on the back, fans were surprised (and delighted) to see Leigh Jamieson skate for the Chieftains (a highly experienced player, last skating for Milton Keynes Lightning in the 22/23 season). The puck dropped for the 1st period, and what appears to be the new norm for the Chieftains, the pace was fast and they went straight on the attack. The Chieftains had control right from the start. At 02:58, Grant Bartlett, assisted by James Pentecost and Jay King, was able to slot the puck past the Streatham netminder. If the Riverside wasn't already loud, this raised the level up a notch, the perfect start from the Chieftains. The Chieftains kept up the pressure on Streatham, and in just over a minute, Cameron Bartlett, assisted by his brother Grant, hooked up perfectly to score another goal. The Riverside was really rocking now. Almost instantaneously after the second goal had been scored, Paynter from Streatham called a timeout. The home fans were chanting for the Chieftains, keen for the momentum to continue. As the puck dropped again, the Chieftains were still on it, they really had control and were not willing to let go of it. Streatham defended hard, the play was end to end at times, but the Chieftains always had the upper hand. The first period ended 2-0. Lawday faced 8 shots, whilst the Streatham netminder faced just over double that, 17.

As expected for the second period, Stretham came out strong, trying to get themselves back into the game. The second period was a lot more open, the action was end to end. At 23:41, JJ Pitchley was able to score for Streatham, making it 2-1. With Jamieson on the ice for the Chieftains, the defence looked calm and in control. The Chieftains didn't seem phased. The open play continued and at 25:30, Ben Ealey-Newman scored for Streatham (assisted by his brother Josh). The second period was turning out to be a mirror image of the first period, but in favour of Streatham this time. As the period went on, there were many chances for both teams. At one point, the Streatham netminder had lost his stick. Play became frantic, but the netminder performed great saves without his stick and Streatham managed to dig themselves out of trouble. Down at Lawdays' end, there were many goal mouth scrambles, the defence all working as one to successfully keep the puck out of the Chieftains' net. At 31:34, the Chieftains were able to make a great breakthrough. Assisted by Alan Lack, Grant Bartlett was able to go on a charge and score a fantastic goal past the Streatham netminder. The Chieftains were back on top! The second period continued to be an end to end affair, both teams creating great chances, and both teams defending well. The second period ended 3-2 to the Chieftains. Lawday faced 16 shots, Streatham faced 13 shots.

For the third period, the Chieftains fans knew that this could be a nervous final period. Once again, Streatham came out strong, but the Chieftains' defence was like a wall. At 45:09, assisted by Hallden Barnes-Garner and Oli Baldock, Damon Porter scored a great goal to make it 4-2. The fans were jumping up and down in celebration. The Chieftains were heading towards a great win! Streatham, at this point, were looking tired, and frustration was kicking in. At 48:20, Hallden Barnes-Garner was able to score from a slick pass from Ben Russell (which happened so fast, we initially thought that Ben Russell had scored!), further assisted by Oli Baldock. The fans couldn't believe it, we were now 5-3 up against the league champions. For Streatham, the frustration was visible. They were not happy. At 51:30, Josh Martin faced up to Grant Bartlett. Grant successfully took him down, proving that Streatham weren't winning anything at the moment. At 54:43, Ben Paynter was able to put one past Jordan Lawday, and the score was now 5-3. Again, Streatham came on the attack, but they just couldn't get anything past the Chieftains' defence. Oli Baldock picked up a cross checking penalty at 57:06. This put Streatham on the powerplay. The home fans were nervous, but the Chieftains were calm and collected, they defended well, and killed off the powerplay successfully. As the final seconds ticked down, the fans were ready to celebrate, and as the final buzzer sounded, the Riverside rocked once more. Daniel Hitchings received  MOTM for his amazing work in defence. Well done Dan, and well done team.

What a fantastic result!

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

We can't wait to see you back at the Riverside for our next game, it's against Streatham...again!

#WhatAWin #WhatATeam# #NothingLikeBeatingStreatham