Romford Buccaneers coach pleased with win on return

Buccaneers skated to a 6-3 win over Oxford City Stars at Romford’s Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre on Sunday, two weeks after their 6-2 derby success at Essex rivals Chelmsford Chieftains.

And Buckman felt the hosts deserved to take the points.

“It was a satisfying win after weekend off,” he said.

“The break gave us a chance to get a couple players back from injury.

“I felt we controlled large parts of the game and never looked like losing once we stuck to our tactics, using the whole line-up and being aggressive with our forecheck and work ethic.”

Joe Tomalin beat former Arsenal and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to give Buccaneers a first-period lead, with Tjay Anderson doubling the advantage in the middle session.

Oxford hit back with two goals in 66 seconds to level, before Brynley Capps put the home side back in front.

But the visitors answered again with the game’s fifth goal in just over six minutes, before Marco Pascale put Romford 4-3 up with a powerplay goal towards the end of the period.

Anderson opened up another two-goal cushion early in the final stanza, with captain Thomas Wilson completing the scoring with another powerplay effort soon after.

“Two bad turnover goals and a powerplay goal from Oxford made it interesting at times,” added Buckman.

“But I was confident rolling the four lines, we could wear them down.

“We ended up outshooting them two to one, and if wasn’t for Petr Cech I fancy we could’ve had a few more goals.”

Buccaneers head to Slough on Saturday (6.30pm), before hosting the Jets in a quick return on Sunday (5.15pm).

And Buckman is under no illusions in the pursuit of more success, adding: “We need to regroup again in training this week and get ready for a tough double-header weekend.”