Match Report | 6th February 2008 » Sheffield Scimitars 6-3 Chelmsford Chieftains

Face Off: 7.15pm, Saturday 2nd February 2008

Match Report by Andy Coupe

The four previous games against Chelmsford had been split, with each team managing one home and one away win. The Scimitars were missing key players, injured Pasi Raitenen, forward James Archer who had moved to Elite League Coventry Blaze, and Robert Dowd playing for the Steelers. Talented youngster Tom Squires was back, and Ryan Handisides getting the call up to the EPL side. Ben Bowns was on the bench again as back up to in-form Paul Jones.

The revised first line of Wallace, Moberg, and Slamiar were soon on the powerplay, with McKenzie receiving a slashing penalty at 0.39. The first of three powerplays this period saw few chances, although Slamiar finished an impressive end to end effort with a shot straight at Moffat. Back at full strength, the Chieftains pinned the Scimitars back into their own zone, muscling the defencemen off the puck on the boards, A dangerous combination from Long and Cotton forced Jones to full stretch. A fumbled cross on the Chelmsford blue line gave Barron his first chance of the game, with a backhander beating the goalie, but seeing his shot roll along the goal line before going out off the post, soon followed by a Wallace re-direct from a Matt Haywood shot also pinging off the back post. With Marostega heading for the box at 10.12, shots by Moberg and Morgan were saved, despite Shudra cutting through the crease to screen Moffat on the second shot. The third Scimitars powerplay of the period came after Palov went in at 15.34, and towards the end of the penalty, Slamiar opened the scoring with a beauty from the centre of the zone at 17.41, past Moffat's blocker glove and celebrated with a forward roll on the ice. In the last minute of the period the visiting team piled on the pressure, forcing Jones to save a shot from his knees.

The second period with a number of shots from the Chieftains, all kept out by Jones, before the two teams traded tit-for-tat attacks on goal. Wallace scored for Sheffield at 4.16, with Slamiar drawing in the defence and passing, allowing Wallace to skate round the net for a wrap around goal. Former Scimitar Mark Stewart received a long pass just outside the Scimitars zone, but was quickly tackled. Squires scored at 26.14, a low shot that squeezed under Moffat's pad before going in off the post for a three goal lead. Both teams had powerplay chances mid-period, before play was briefly stopped when Tom Long (C) went down with an injury to his right knee. Another delay soon followed when Goodman hit Yardley into the boards right by the Chelmsford bench, with three or four players retaliating from the bench and the ice. With coincidental penalties against Goodman and Yardley, a two minute charging penalty for Williams gave Scimitars a powerplay advantage that they quickly converted, with Barron finding the net after blocked shots from Brittle and Morgan. Chieftains pulled one back through recovered captain Long at 37.17, rebounding after his own first shot came back out off the post. A late challenge by Forsythe on Farmer, three seconds after the whistle, went unpunished by referee Dean Smith.

A powerplay goal at 41.07 from Darren Cotton cut the Scimitars lead back to two, with Handisides unlucky not to score at the other end after a perfect cross from Gibson across the net. A long shot by Duncombe went just wide, with Moffat not even aware of the incoming puck. Palov scored his team's third at 47.45 after an inspired pass from Stewart, who swept the puck out from flat on the ice by the post for Palov to lift into the net. A Scimitars time out preceded the restart, soon paying off with a powerplay goal scored by Butterworth at 50.49. A Chelmsford defender stole the puck from Moberg in front of the net, but left it unguarded for Butterworth to shoot and score. After a successful penalty kill by the Scimitars, Handisides skated onto a loose puck just inside the Chieftains zone, blasting it for a shot that Moffat saved easily. Slamiar made it six - three at 56.30, lifting the puck high after Moberg laid it off for him. With a three goal lead and just three and a half minutes to go, Ben Bowns got his chance in the net, but if he was hoping for a gentle introduction to EPL hockey he was mistaken. With two penalties called against the Scimitars in quick succession, Chelmsford called a time-out before pulling their netminder for a six on three powerplay. Bowns made several competent saves, shutting out the opposition until the final buzzer.

Man of the match awards were won by Peter Slamiar and Nathaniel Williams, with Paul Jones being presented with a hard-earned Player of the Month award voted for by the supporters.

Game Details
Period Scores
Sheffield 1/3/2 = 6
Chelmsford 0/1/2= 3
Penalty minutes
Sheffield 0/4/8 = 12
Chelmsford 6/6/4 = 16
SOG
Jones 8/9/8 = 28/3
Bowns (56.30) - /-/4 = 4/0
Moffat 19/14/10 = 43/6
Scoring details
Sheffield: Slamiar 2 + 2, Wallace 1 + 1, Moberg 0 + 4, Squires, Barron, Butterworth 1 + 0, Morgan 0 + 2, Brittle and Gibson 0 + 1. MOM. P. Slamiar
Chelmsford: Palov 1 + 1, Long, Cotton 1 + 0, Marostega, Hannah, Stewart, McKenzie 0 + 1. MOM. N. Williams
Referee: D Smith Linesmen: J. Liptrott D. Pyatt
Attendance: 311

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