The Braves Came 2nd At Sheffield

This was our 3rd tournament of the season and despite having no ice time for several weeks (due to refurbisment) The Braves were still raring to go!. Our 1st game was against Cardiff (league winners) and as usual it was nip and tuck and as close as can be, we won 1 - 0, this game was followed by a loss to Romford, another hard fought game. Our final game of the day was against Whitley,  which we won giving us 7 points.

Our 2nd day started early with a match against Telford, this resulted in a win of 3 - 1. Now we could possibly make the finals if we could win against Sheffield (the home team and the usual tournament winners) we could draw against them and still stand a chance as it then it be down to the goal difference between Cardiff our ourselves as we were on equal points. It was a fast, furious game and scarily tense as the time counted up and we were 2 - 1 in the lead, at last the buzzer went and we were in the final!!

We knew this would be a very hard final as Romford and their guest players had dominated the tournament only having one drawn game and winning the rest fairly comprehensivly, and so it proved to be with Romford scoring their 1st goal almost off the starting whistle, it took a while for their 2nd and then we scored our 1st, the play was very hard on both sides and the final score was 2 - 5. The Braves were very disappointed to have lost the final, however the achievement was fantastic considering that the same team was at the bottom of the league 2 seasons ago and facing relegation to the B league.

So we end our season 6th in the league, winning the Hull Tournament, coming 3rd in Coventry and finally 2nd in Sheffield, pretty good really. This is my last entry onto the website as Phil and I are not the managers for next season, I would just like to say how proud we are of the whole team (and coaches of course) and would like to thank them for a season of fantastic hockey.

Kath & Phil Luton

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Coventry Tournament

We all had a great time at The Coventry Tournament on 13th June, The Braves only managed to lose 1 game (making that 1 game over the last 2 tounaments) but that put us in the 3rd - 4th playoffs and we beat Milton Keynes putting us in 3rd position. It was a late finish for a Sunday tounament and Coventry were thoughtful in presenting the medals after our game allowing us to leave earlier than expected. We will be in Sheffield 10th -11th July for our last tournament of the season. 

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THE BRAVES WIN THE HULL TOURNAMENT!!!!

We went to Hull hoping to have a good tournament and boy were we not disappointed! This tournament was played under Jonkers rules, which meant that we had to play 3 set lines all through the game with 1 min 15 sec on ice for each line, and to take up the game as the last line left it. We were a little skeptical, but we were very wrong. These rules lead to a VERY fast paced and level game for all teams as all players have even time on the ice and likewise even rest periods, making sure all players are fresh to charge out when their time it due.

We started with our 1st game against Bradford which we won 6 -1, followed by a spectacular win against Whitley 9 - 0 and so it went on -

Chelmsford - Kingston 2 - 0

Chelmsford - Newcastle (now here we dropped a point) 0 - 0

Chelmsford - Grimsby 13 - 1

and now we were into the playoff games to decide the places, and we were up against Grimsby to decide who was going into the final, Grimsby were fired up after having had a great game against Kingston (which they managed to win in the final few minutes 2 - 1) this certainly as showed as we only managed to win 6 - 0 and it was certainly much more physical than our last meeting, however despite the bumps and bruises The Braves were VERY upbeat as we were in the final. We watched the next game very carefully as this was the one that decided who was going to be our opposition, Whitley or Newcastle?

It was decided and it was to be Newcastle (the only team we'd dropped a point to having drawn with them earlier in the day). This was certainly our hardest game of the tournament as both teams were determined to win, Jake Luton scored the 1st goal followed by our 2nd scored by Ed Lay, Ed quickly scored again making it 3 - 0 then there was an objection from the Newcastle bench, it would seem that they had changed their line when our 2nd goal was scored and we were now playing our 1st line against their 2nd line (not in the rules at all) we checked with the linesman and he hadn't heard the buzzer, however in the spirit of fair play we agreed that our 3rd goal would be discounted and we were now just 2 goals up, the tension mounted as the minutes ticked by and Newcastle scored. Finally, finally there was a weak buzzer and we thought it was over, but no the line change signal came and off went the 1st line again, the ref finally checked with the timekeepers and blew his whistle.................we had WON

We must congratulate ALL our players, they stepped up to the mark and exceeded it, every single one played their socks off, the defense was remarkable with bodies being contorted into the most amazing shapes to reach the opposing forwards and stop them in their tracks. The forwards were unrelenting in their assault on the other teams net scoring 36 goals between them and the net minding was excellent with only 3 goals getting past Matt White and David Partington. I’m only sorry that I can’t write a report on each game highlighting each players excellent achievements

I must mention our coaches Lee Brears and Adam Swainsbury who bench coached the team brilliantly, giving excellent guidance and encouragement throughout, just the way it should be done. Thank you.

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 We Lose 7 - 1!!!

We were clearly not at our best for this one....however as we managed to attact 30 mins of penalties in a 40 min game, there was very little time when we had a full line on the ice, in fact the penalties were so many that one of our players took himself off to the bin when the whistle blew for an off-side!!. Our 1 goal was scored by Jake in the 36th minute. Matt faced 13 sog and David a massive 35 in the 2nd period.

This should be our last game of the season and I would like to thank all the players, coaches, officials and the long suffering parents for an excellent season which has been full of highs and lows but, certainly NOT boring for one second. We still however have 3 tournaments in the near future, Hull, Sheffield and Coventry so we will be playing together for a while yet.

Man of the match - Jake Luton

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The Braves beat Swindon 4 - 3

This has got to be one of the most exciting games this season. Despite the braves largely dominating the 1st period we were unable to get a goal past the Swindon defence and netminder, following  a breakout by Haydn Lee, Swindon gained the lead and the 1st period ended 1 - 0.

The 2nd period continued in the same vein with The Braves having several more battles around the Swindon goal mouth, finally 10 mins later Oli scored our 1st goal, assisted by Harry and James. Then 14 seconds later Jason scored our 2nd, assisted by James. Swindon wern't going to let us take the lead for long and they equalized 6 mins later, Ellis scored a lovely goal following a great pass from behind the net by Ryan and we were in the lead again. However again Swindon equalized the score with 1 min 25 secs to go and it seemed we would have to settle for a draw, but Jason sank one in the back of the net and it was a LONG LONG 26 seconds to the final buzzer. Well done to both teams and thank you for an excellent 40 mins of Hockey.

As this is our last home game I would like to thank all the parents who have helped out on game days, some have helped on every game and some have stood in at short notice and other have dipped in and out as necessary, you have all been appreciated as the games couldn't go ahead without you.

Spirit of the Game - Lawrence Reffell 

Man of the match - Jason Hancy  

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We lose against Peterborough 7 - 2

We fully expected this to be a difficult game and so it proved to be, Peterborough have several excellent players who once they get the puck are very hard to stop before they get a goal, fortunately we have excellent defenders who spoiled their chances on many occasions. The Phantoms won the 1st period 4 - 0 and we were in trouble, however as always The Braves come out fighting and after our 1st goal was scored by Harry Aldridge (unassisted) we knew we were in with a chance, our 2nd goal scored by Ed Lay (assisted by Lewis Jones) put us back on track, unfortunately Peterborough scored their 5th, but we had won the 2nd period. We fought on and managed to stop many futher attempts at our goal, but it was not to be and our nemisis scored a futher 2 goals sealing our fate. However it was a great game that was enjoyed by all.

Spirit of the game - Cay Garrett

Man of the match - Jake Luton

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The Braves draw against league leaders Cardiff!!!

We always have great games against Cardiff regardless of who wins or who loses and today proved to be another great 40 mins of hockey. We expected the league leaders (who have only lost 1 game to date) to come out fighting and they did, but so did The Braves, its very hard to say who had the best of the 1st period with the play being fast and very furious, goal #1 being eventually scored by The Braves Jason Hancy, The Devils quickly replied and the first 20 mins were over, with only 1 penalty called. In the 2nd period we thought we had them on the run after Ed Lay scored our 2nd goal and then a 3rd was scored but dis-allowed. Eventually The Devils equalised the score leaving us with a 2 - 2 draw. Much is said about the goals that are scored, however this is a team sport and the whole team deserves the credit, our defenders were amazing and stopped many a run on our goal, with our net minder Matt White stopping 19 of the 21 shots that got through to him.

Man of the match - Matt White

Spirit of the game  - Jake Luton

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We LOST 5 - 6

What a hard game for both teams, when we last met the result was 4 all so we were both out to prove our teams were the best......... the 1st goal was to The Braves scored by Ed lay @ 1.25 and it seemed that we had the upper hand as it took nearly 13 mins for Guildford to score the equalising goal, leaving the 1st period as a 1 all draw. The ref and linesman were being scrutinised and the penalties were coming thick and fast for both teams.

In the 2nd period Guildford scored 2 goals in quick succession leaving us 2 down, then we started the fight back with Ed lay and Lewis Jones  bringing the score back to a level 3 all, we pulled ahead with a goal from Harry Aldridge, this was quickly answered by Guildford making it 4 all (shades of our last meeting!) Guildford scored their 5th and again the score was equalised this time by Bailey Chittock. Then with just 2mins 17 sec to go Guildford scored their 6th and despite The Braves best attempts we were unable to level the score again and Guildford won!!

This was an excellent game from the spectators point of view and congratulations to both teams for a very entertaining  40 mins. The invaluable assists were by Bailey Chittock, Jason Hancy and Ed Lay.

There wer 24 SOG against Guildford and 25 SOG for our Matt White

Spirit of the game - Cay Garrett

Man of the Match - Ed Lay

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The Braves Win 6 - 1

This was almost a case of deja vue if it hadn't been for the 1st goal scored by The Dynamites Jack Lee 18 seconds after the 1st face off!! this certainly woke The Braves and they went on to win all 3 of the 15 min periods. With some excellent defending The Dynamites were only able to get another 6 SOG to The Braves 34. Goals were scored by Tylor Ross, Ed Lay, Lewis Jones, Lawrence Reffell, Oli Baldock and Bailey Chittock, assists to Jake Luton, Lawrence Reffell and Ed Lay.

Spirit of the Game  - Oli Baldock

Man of the Match - Lewis Jones 

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 The Braves Win 6 - 0

Despite Invicta Dynamites only having joined the A league this season, this was a fairly even game. Given that several of their players are much bigger than ours, the faster skating skills of The Braves stood them in good stead ensuring a 3 - 0 win in both periods. Our netminder David Partington achieved a shut out and our goals were scored by Ed Lay x 2, Beth Hill, Oli Baldock, Jason Hancy and Jake Luton with assists to Ellis Swainsbury, Sam Mercer and Cay Garrett.

(Wo)Man of the match - Beth Hill -

Spirit of the Game - Jordan Turner - 

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The Braves Beat Bracknell (again)

Bracknell are a hard team to overcome and we surely didn't really expect to beat them on our 1st meeting in December, but we did! So we quite rightly expected a very hard game on our return match, especially as it was on their own home ice. The 1st period ended in a 0 - 0 draw with both teams playing a very equal game, however the stalemate couldn't continue and Harry Aldridge scored The Braves 1st goal, assisted by Ellis Swainbury and Ed Lay, in the 1st 4 mins of the second period. The match continued into the 3rd period with still no answering goal from The Hummers, and remained that way right through to the nail biting end.

Man of the Match - Matt White

Spirit of the Game - Cay Garrett

 

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 Basingstoke Bison vs. Chelmsford Braves

By Jack Johnson

An easy game? The Bison had a terrible drive down, but that didn’t stop them giving us a hard time. The game was going to be a tough and we didn’t know it, here I can only be honest we thought we were going to walk it.

The puck was dropped and the game was underway. We were on it straight away. We shot, we missed but didn’t give up. As we shot again we missed but we still didn’t give up and that paid off because Oli Baldock scored our first goal, timed at 7:42. The game was going well, and the first period was finished with us leading by one goal.

The game was going well. With no penalties and the Jaffa cakes had been passed around, so we were happy. The puck was dropped again and the game was underway. Basingstoke was trailing by one goal and needed to get a point back from us.  Unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen as Jason and Harry scored our second goal. Basingstoke though got one back quickly because of: Hugo Tibbitts. A long time after Ellis and Ed put us 3-1 up. Soon after Hugo Tibbitts scored again but Basingstoke in the end didn’t win, but we did: 3-2.

Man of the Match: Ed Lay

Spirit of the game: Ellis Swainsbury

Congratulations to all players involved. It was a brilliant match and well played.

Thank you very much too the coaches who give up their time to help us lot. And it helps when you go up against Bracknell, in fact they are so good we beat Bracknell and I think that we can and will do it again.

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Not so unlucky 13 for The Braves

The Braves win against Basingstoke 13 - 3, this would appear to have been a very easy game looking at the scoreline, however the Braves seemed to have been suffering the after effects of Christmas winning the 1st period with 2 goals after a sluggish start, the 2nd period was certainly livelier with another 4 goals added to our score and the team seemed to be coming together with some excellent defending and good accurate passing. By the time they got to the 3rd period both teams were playing their best and with each passing minute the play got faster and more exciting with each goal being fought for and defended with equal enthusiasm.

The final score was 13 - 3 with several players gaining 3 points to add to their personal stats, scorers were Oliver Baldock, Bailey Chittock, Taylor Ross, Ellis Swainsbury, Harry Aldridge, Jordan Turner, Jason Hancy assisted by Bailey Chittock, Lewis Jones, Ellis Swainsbury, Lawrence Reffell, Jake Luton and Taylor Ross.

Well done ALL of you for an excellent display of team play.

(Wo)Man of the Match - Bethany Hill

Spirit of the Game - Taylor Ross

 

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The Braves Draw 4 - 4 with Guildford

Another excellent result for Chelmsfords U14s, despite having missed 2 training periods due to the ice show, The Braves came out ready to win only to be stopped in their tracks by Guildford winning the first 2 goals and leaving Chelmford on the back foot, the team continued their fight back with Ed Lay scoring our first goal and Jordan Turner (assisted by Oli Baldock) leveling the score by the end of the 1st period.

We certainly looked stronger in the 2nd period with Ed Lay (assisted by Cay  Garret) scoring within the 1st minute, scarily Guildford scored their 3rd goal and then their 4th with only 2mins 40 seconds to go, finally within the last minute Ed Lay (assisted by Ellis Swainsbury) scored his 3rd goal of the match and left us with a 4 - 4 draw. An excellent game with our netminder David Partington facing 30 SOG and some brilliant defending completing the picture.

Man of the Mach - Jason Hancy

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Ed Lay is off to Canada, representing England, shortly after Christmas and we wish him all the best for the tournament.

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Congratulations to Cay Garret and Jake Luton for having been included in the U15s South East squad and Bailey Chittock, Matt White and Ellis Swainsbury for making it into the U13s South East Squad.

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 The Braves Beat Bracknell Hummers 4 - 3

The Braves came out fighting from the start and dominated the first period from the beginning, Ellis Swainsbury scoring The Braves 1st goal in the 6th minute followed by their 2nd in the 11th by Ed Lay and ulltimately the 3rd in the 15th by Bailey Chittock, there was also excellent defending ensuring that the first period clearly belonged to The Braves 3 - 0.

The Bracknell side came out fighting in the 2nd period and quickly scored their 1st goal just 1 min and 18 seconds later during a power play, the game continued with Bracknell gaining the upper hand, managing to even the score with just 1 min and 32 seconds to go and it looked as if we would have to be content with a draw, then Ellis Swainsbury scored his 2nd goal and gave us the lead again. Bracknell called time out and pulled their goalie to no avail The Braves won the day. Congratulations to ALL the players for an excellent team game, the netminder, Matt White, took a total of 32 shots on goal.

My thanks, as always, to our parents for their help with the game day jobs.

 Man of the match - Matt White

Spirit of the game - Daniel Busuttil

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The Braves Lose against Milton Keynes 2 - 3

This was not the game I was expecting at all, it was full of surprises. Despite The Braves dominating the game, the 1st goal was scored by Milton Keynes after 13 mins and The Braves were not able to reply until 6 mins later when their netminder finally let 1 of the 38 shots in.

In the 2nd period the Milton Keynes netminder continued his amazing performance saving 19 out of the 20 shots fired by The Braves. Milton Keynes scored a futher 2 goals leaving us with a 3 - 1 score, which was eventually fought down to 3 - 2. tensions mounted as the game progressed finally culmulating in the grand total of 5 players in the sin bin at the same time at the end of the match.

Both goals scored by Nr 23 Ed Lay assisted by Lewis Jones and Jason Hancy

Spirit of the Game - Ed Lay

Man of the Match - Jake Luton

Once again thanks to our parents for their willing help on game day.

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 The Braves Draw against Romford 2 - 2

       

After our last game against Romford which resulted in a 3 - 1 win for The Braves we were pretty sure that todays game would be another exciting game and so it proved to be. The Braves scored the 1st goal just 1 min & 1 sec into the 1st period followed by The Hurricanes 1st goal 4mins & 32 seconds later, the play continued without a let up from one end to the other for the remaining time of the 1st period resulting in a draw. Again the battle commenced with The Braves again scoring the 1st goal of the period at 34.17 followed by The Hurricanes exactly 2mins later. I don't think it would have been possible to have found 2 other teams so balanced in all respects, 4 penalties, 20  shots on goal and 2 goals each.

Our Goals were scored by Bailey Chittock and Oliver Baldock, assists to Jake Luton and Ellis Swainsbury

As always a big thankyou to our parents for their help on game day. 

Spirit of the game  - David Partington

Man of the Match - Jake Luton  

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We are very proud that three of our team mates have been selected to represent England  this season, Ed Lay in the U14s, with Bailey Chittock and Ellis Swainsbury in the U13s, well done to you all!

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