Cardiff Fire 3, Chelmsford Chieftains 10
Mark Smith’s Cardiff Fire faced in-form Chieftains at the Viola Arena – and were rocked by more than 100 minutes in penalties.
Seven Fire players were given 10-minute penalties, three of them after the 60 minutes were up.
Former Cardiff Devils defenceman Smith, Fire’s coach, was surely disappointed by the amount of penalty minutes, but his players showed great passion and commitment.
Lewis Davies, Joe Morris, Ben Smith, Ricky Deacon, Lewis Stevens, Ross Wilkinson and Samual Bryant were the players involved and Chieftains powered to victory.
Action shots from tonight’s game 🔥
📸 @JamesAssinder pic.twitter.com/hjGjnJ2iiw— Cardiff Fire (@CardiffFireIHC) January 6, 2019
The visitors scored five powerplay goals and a shorthanded strike, while Fire’s treble were one PP, one SH and one even-handed.
James Ayling, Grant Bartlett and Ross Brears all scored hat-tricks for Chieftains and only six players contributed points to the 10-goal haul.
The next home fixtures for Cardiff Fire are against Guildford on Saturday, January 26 and then Oxford City Stars the following evening.
Match stats:
Scorers, Fire: Jordan Powell 2+1, Elis Sheppard 1+1, Stephen Deacon 0+1, Alan Armour 0+1, Tamas Elias 0+1.
Chieftains: James Ayling 3+3, Grant Bartlett 3+0, Ross Brears 3+3, Thomas Wilson 1+0, Bradley Moore 0+4, Gary Brown 0+1.
Period scores: (Fire first) 2-3; 0-4 (2-7); 1-3 (3-10)
Shots on goal: Fire (on Sonny Phillips) 29, Chieftains (on Lewis Davies/James Whiting) 49.
Penalties in minutes: Fire 102, Chieftains 20.
Cardiff Fire match tickets available on the door or buy online at http://bit.ly/cardiff-fire
Results this weekend, Sunday: Romford Raiders 3, Solent Devils 5; Bracknell Hornets 5, Invicta 4; Cardiff Fire 3, Chelmsford Chieftains 10; Basingstoke Buffalo 3, Peterborough Phantoms 10.
Saturday: Lee Valley Lions 1, Cardiff Fire 8; Bristol Pitbulls 4, Romford Raiders 6.
Fixtures next weekend:
Saturday, January 12: Solent Devils v Guildford, Bristol Pitbulls v Peterborough Phantoms, Slough Jets v Chelmsford Chieftains, Bracknell Hornets v Romford Raiders, Swindon Wildcats v Cardiff Fire.
Sunday, January 13: Guildford v Slough Jets, Haringey Huskies v Swindon Wildcats, Oxford City Stars v Lee Valley Lions, Basingstoke Buffalo v Invicta.