Coach Sam Zajac delighted to see Leeds Chiefs get just rewards at Raiders IHC

WINING SMILES: Leeds Chiefs enjoyed their first success of the NIHL National season on the road at Raiders IHC. Picture courtesy of John Scott.

The 4-0 triumph at the Sapphire Ice and Leisure rink of Romford-based Raiders IHC was achieved with some style too, comprising a number of other firsts, most notably a shutout for goaltender Sam Gospel and a hat-trick for forward Adam Barnes.

Not surprisingly, player-coach Zajac was a delighted man on a the team bus heading back to West Yorkshire on Sunday night, while perhaps a little relieved that his team had finally got off the mark at the sixth attempt.

The result wasn’t enough to lift the Chiefs off the bottom of the standings, but they will take confidence into next weekend’s road trips to Swindon Wildcats and Hull Pirates.

UNDER PRESSURE: Leeds Chiefs try to foce an opening in the Raiders zone. Picture courtesy of John Scott

“It’s been a long time coming but that makes this all the sweeter,” said Zajac. “All the boys were fantastic but, to be honest, from the first day in they’ve all done what we’ve asked of them and it’s great to see it all finally bear fruit.

“We thought we would try and tick all the boxes at once by getting a shut-out too. Gossie (netminder Sam Gospel) has been great all season for us and he showed again tonight how good he is when he’s on his game.

“They had some chances but we could have carried on playing all night and we’d have still got the shut-out - he was fantastic.

“Barnesy was obviously great, that top line with him, Radek (Meidl) and Arch (James Archer) was dangerous all night.

Liam Charnock impressed on debut for Leeds Chiefs in the 4-0 win at Raiders IHC. Picture courtesy of John Scott.

“We came out and had a great first 10 minutes, really set the tone and pressured them all over the ice and didn’t let them settle into their game.

“We built off that start as the game went on but credit to them because they definitely caused us some problems but, fortunately, we just had a little bit more tonight.”

It was Barnes who got things up and running for the visitors with 16.56 on the board when he fired home his first of what would prove a memorable night.

A goalless second period followed but the Chiefs were quick to double their lead in the third when Barnes grabbed his second at 41.29, going on to make it 3-0 just under 10 minutes later.

To round off a fine night for himself having contributed three assists, James Archer made it 4-0 on the power play at 55.10 - assisted by that man Barnes.