Cobras' opponents came into this game full of confidence, having recently won their first league game. The game was less than a minute old when the story was set. Marianne Wright, Chelmsford's spirit of the game, was tripped in front of her own net, but there was no call. When Emma Stott attempted to tidy up the broken play, she took a minor penalty to put the Cobras short-handed.
Chelmsford had the best opportunities despite the disadvantage, and the penalty was almost over when Jen Stedman was felled in the attacking zone. Again there was no call, and the play was only stopped when she was obviously hurt. The following "discussion" with the officials saw Cobras down to three skaters. Again Chelmsford had the best chances, and went ahead when Katy Allen converted from the blue line whilst short-handed.
After all this excitement, the remainder of the first period was quite a lack lustre affair, both teams had their fair share of pressure, but very few shots were taken.
The second period started with Cobras looking a lot more organised, and finally the pressure paid off when Emma Stott was on hand to finish off a rebound created by Stacey Wood and Jen Stedman. This was followed by a Katy Allen trademark skate the length of the ice, and score to give the Cobras a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Then the penalties came again, as Stacey Wood took a double minor which meant she wouldn't play again in the period, and shortly after the teams were to skate 4 on 4 after Lindsay Corroll took a penalty for MK. This created more space on the ice, and it was only 14 seconds later that Shelley Owen won the footrace with the Cobras defence to open MK's account.
The final session reverted to the slow pace of the first, and after the teams had exchanged penalties Chelmsford looked to be coasting to victory, until Falcons' player of the game Shelley Owen again broke through the Chelmsford defence, and grabbed her second with almost four minutes left. This made the final minutes very nervy, but the Cobras' held on for a morale boosting away win.
Spirit of the game awards went to Cobras' Marianne Wright, and Falcons' Victoria French, and the player of the game awards to MK's Shelley Owen and Chelmsford's Stacey Wood.
Cobras' next game on their end of season road trip sees them travel to local rivals Romford Nighthawks. Face-off is at 16:00, and it's a must win game for the Cobras if they have aspirations of finishing in the top three of the league.
Scoring:
Milton Keynes: Shelley Owen 2+0(0), Sarah Whiteside 0+1(0), Victoria McElwee 0+0(2), Lindsay Corroll 0+0(2), bench (2).
Chelmsford: Katy Allen 2+0(0), Emma Stott 0+1(2), Stacey Wood 0+1(14), Jen Stedman 0+1(14), bench (2).