Sunday 17 February 2008

Romford Raiders 5 Chelmsford Chieftains 4 (after OT and penalty shots)

Sam and I trekked over to Romford today to see our first ever derby at the Raiders rink. It was even more tense than the Chieftains 4 - 3 win after penalty shots a week ago!

Chieftains cruised to a 0 - 3 lead by the end of the 1st period but the Raiders managed to claw one back to make it 1 - 3 at the end of the 2nd. Referee Smith kindly gifted lots of penalties to the Raiders and the end of the 3rd period the game was tied 4 - 4. Into sudden death overtime we went and after more nail biting we ended 4 - 4 and no more nails and a weak heart as we went to penalty shots.

Regular penalty shots (3 from each team) ended 0 - 0 so it was into sudden death. A further 4 penalties and neither team managed to find the net, unfortunately on the 8th set Chieftains missed but the Raiders managed to slot one home. It was a tense game with a great atmosphere but I hate it when it goes to penalty shots. Still the Chieftains got a much needed point and in our fight against Romford to make the last play off spot we are now 1 point behind but have 2 games in hand so its not over yet.

Unfortunately the Capitals failed to beat the Vipers tonight (losing 3 - 6 ) and so their bid to clinch a play off spot is getting slimmer and slimmer.

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