Youngsters fire Streatham to Cup victory over Chelmsford
5-2 win for the RedHawks over Chieftains
Streatham's young talent shone through in a 5-2 London Cup win over Chelmsford Chieftains on Sunday night at the Streatham Arena. Missing Ryan Watt and Scott Bailey through injury, the RedHawks lined up with a reduced roster and with Tom Annetts between the pipes.
Local youngster Conner Smith opened the scoring after just over ten minutes as he sniped past Sonny Phillips from the slot to give the South London side a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period.
Two minutes into the second period, teenager Stanley Ratcliffe diverted a Josh Ealey-Newman shot through Phillips legs to extend the lead to a two goal cushion. If the home fans were expecting to see a rout, they were quickly given a reality check as Chelmsford fired in two quick goals to even things up, through efforts from Ethan Reid and Cameron Bartlett.
With the game all tied up at 2-2 it took an effort from Captain Ben Paynter halfway through the second period to give Streatham the upper hand again and they finished the second period 3-2 up with twenty minutes to play.
In the third the team came out hard and extended their lead, as Danny Ingoldsby bagged a brace to seal an impressive victory for the RedHawks in their first game in the competition.
Scorers: Danny Ingoldsby 2+0, Stanley Ratcliffe 1+2, Conner Smith 1+1, Ben Paynter 1+1, Vanya Antonov 0+2, Brandon Miles, Andrew Cook and Josh Ealey-Newman 0+1.
Shots on goal for Tom Annetts = 31
Streatham return to league action next weekend with a road trip to Oxford City Stars on Saturday before a home clash against Bristol Pitbulls on Sunday evening at 6:45pm. Tickets are already available online HERE.
