The Invicta Dynamos were unable to stretch their run of six consecutive victories to seven on Sunday evening as the Chelmsford Chieftains, led by four goal ‘import’ Julius Sinkovic, won 6-3 in the NIHL South Division 1 at the Silver Blades Ice Rink Gillingham.

In a lively end-to-end start, both teams had opportunities to break the deadlock early on in the first but it was the visitors who would secure the opener in the fifth minute of the frame. A 2-on-1 counter saw Gary Clarke enter the zone on the left side and his diagonal to the centre was roofed over the glove of David Wride by Julius Sinkovic to put the Essex outfit 1-0 up.

The Dynamos then had their chances to answer, with Joe Bliss mistiming his swing in front of net, Andy Smith finding the mask of Ben Clements and Justin Noble poking wide on the back stick following a pass from Callum Best, and the Chieftains took advantage of their failure to convert by going 2-0 up midway through. An excellent interchange of passes at pace and short range between Sinkovic and Clarke unlocked the home side’s defence with the Slovak the man to guide around a grounded David Wride to double his team’s edge. With five minutes to go they then added a third with Chelmsford’s in form ‘import’ and player/coach again involved in the play.

Julius Sinkovic rounded the back of the Dynamos net before finding Gary Clarke on the inside edge of the left circle who passed on a opportunity to shoot to tee up the on-rushing Daniel Wright between the faceoff circles. Wright’s venomous shot was blocked by the dive of David Wride but the goalie was in no position to prevent the defenceman tucking home the follow up with the puck trickling beyond his reach for a shorthanded third. It was a lead which would hold until the break with Chelmsford’s clinical finishing proving the only difference between the teams with the 3-0 edge on the scoreboard perhaps flattering the leaders.

In the second period the Dynamos needed a response and they secured it within two minutes of the puck drop courtesy of Justin Noble. The Canadian was put through on the breakaway by Callum Best’s precise pass and he skipped around the attempted diving interception of a defenceman and roofed high into the frame of the goal from an acute angle to make it 3-1. Chasing the game though, the hosts always looked vulnerable to Chelmsford’s fast paced counters, and the visitors struck back quickly to restore their three goal advantage. Another 2-on-1 saw Michael Ranby enter the zone just left of centre and his pass to the middle was drilled into the top of the target by Julius Sinkovic to give the Slovak his hat-trick and make it 4-1.

With their early efforts undone, the Dynamos needed another breakthrough and they were perhaps gifted one five minutes in as they netted a controversial second. From just right of the target Peter Vaisanen fired goalwards with a shot that he thought had crossed the line but failed to light the lamp. Lone referee Solovjovs was in agreement with the Canadian though, and the strike stood to pull the home side back within two, much to the annoyance of the Chelmsford back line. However, soon after, a tussle behind the play would leave the Dynamos a man short as Jack Tarczycki and Julius Sinkovic exchanged pushes before Arran Strawson checked the Slovak from behind in defence of his teammate. Strawson would be given a 2+10, whilst the other two sat coincidental roughing minors, and, a man up, the Chieftains stretched their lead to 5-2.

A goalmouth scramble in front of the net saw James Ayling and Gary Clarke claim assists when ‘import’ defenceman Tibor Schneider rifled in puck that had broken back towards him from in front of the blue line. The game then looked all but over for the home side when, four minutes from the buzzer, Chelmsford extended their edge to four. Julius Sinkovic entered the zone just right of centre, skipped to the middle and, despite losing his balance with Callum Fowler snapping at his heels, sent a shot high into the roof of the net from between the faceoff circles for his fourth of the evening.

With a considerable deficit to make up in the last, the Dynamos claimed a glimmer of hope in the first minute as they hit back to cut the visitor’s lead to 6-3. Adam Copland was found back on the blue line and his venomous slapshot fizzed over the reach of an unsighted Ben Clements and into the net behind him for the defenceman’s second goal of the season. Unfortunately though, it would be the home side’s last of the night as they failed to make the most of any following opportunities and were ultimately frustrated by Chelmsford’s considerable rear guar and netminder.

Nevertheless, there was still plenty of fight in the game, literally in the case of Arran Strawson and Danny Cox who would drop the gloves following a coming together in front of the Dynamos net. In a brief tussle, neither combatant landed many punches before Strawson slipped to his knees and Cox took advantage by throwing himself on top to secure the takedown. Just moments later and another bout would follow after Julius Sinkovic dropped to the ice holding his face prompting both teams to come together once again.

Chelmsford’s Michael Ranby, often criticised for not backing up his aggressive style of play, finally removed his face cage to dance with blue liner Anthony Lennon and the two exchanged a number of blows. Ranby’s considerable height advantage gave him the edge but he took advantage of a slip by Lennon by skating off in celebration before the defenceman had risen to retaliate. However, regardless of how you score the fights, only two numbers mattered come the final buzzer and the score was definitely in favour of the Chieftains after sixty minutes of play as the Essex outfit secured a 6-3 win.

So it was an end to the winning streak for the Dynamos who were given a lesson in clinical finishing by their guests and made to suffer the disappointment of defeat despite a spirited display. Man of the match awards on the night went to lethal Slovak Julis Sinkovic of the Chieftains whilst netminder David Wride took it fro the hosts.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion