Chelmsford Chieftains 7 Streatham Redskins 4

Streatham Redskins travelled to Essex on Sunday to face a Chelmsford Chieftains side at full strength.

The south London outfit got off to a bad start as early as the sixth minute, as they fell behind to a goal from Chieftains top scorer Danny Hammond.

The Redskins bounced back and had a number of opportunities on goal but couldn’t convert and they were punished with 12 minutes gone, when former player Jerry Pavlus scored after being set up by Hammond.

Redskins goalie Stefan Nubert was given a tripping penalty and the home side took advantage of the powerplay with Ross Brears scoring to make it 3-0.

Less than a minute later, the visitors were finally off the mark, as the lively Perry Richardson converted a pass from Caz Britton on the powerplay.

With the home side hitting penalty trouble, the Redskins managed to pull back even closer before the end of the period with Louis Lockwood blasting the puck into the net on a five-on-three power play.

The second period started with neither side getting hold of the puck but plenty of physical play as the Redskins upped the tempo.

Sadly it was the home side who scored to extend their lead through Blaho Novak.

The Redskins didn’t give up and before the period finished Lockwood scored again to set up a rousing final period.

Streatham came out of the blocks flying in the third and Lockwood completed his hat trick to level the scores at 4-4.

The home side were visibly nervous and the 500-strong crowd created a great atmosphere with the Redskins noisy band of followers playing their part.

The Redskins lost focus as the period went on and the home side capitalised with Aaron Connelly and Hammond again scoring to give them a valuable two goal cushion.

A delaying-the-game penalty called on Britton gave the Chieftains another powerplay and they converted with Pavlus getting his second of the night.

Streatham coach Barry Spours had further bad news when hat-trick hero Lockwood turned villain as he was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty to effectively end hopes of a comeback.

Chelmsford held out for the 7-4 win and this result combined with Wightlink Raiders victorys over Haringey Greyhounds and Milton Keynes Thunder means that the Redskins cannot qualify for the play offs.

Streatham are in action this Sunday at the High Road rink as they face relegation threatened Milton Keynes Thunder.

It is likely to be physical game with Streatham hoping to put on a show for their fans. Face-off is at 6.45pm this Sunday and new fans are welcome.