London Raiders were beaten 7-3 at rivals and defending National League champions Chelmsford Chieftains on Saturday.

Hosts Chelmsford opened the scoring through Michael Ranby in the 11th minute, but Jakub Klima levelled on a Raiders' powerplay whilst ex-Raiders captain Julian Smith served a roughing minor for Chelmsford.

Bailey Chittock re-established Chelmsford’s lead after the break, before a pair of shorthanded goals from Martin Piecha and Darren Brown made it 4-1 to the home side.

Raiders’ Ross Wilkinson was then ejected on a match penalty for roughing against Cameron Bartlett, while former Raider Ryan Giles was given a game misconduct for being third man in.

Ross Brears then grabbed Chelmsford’s fifth goal on a powerplay goal in the final period, following a holding call against David Oliver.

A sixth came via Matt Turner, before Vaclav Drabek pulled back a consolation strike. Chittock added his second to make it 7-2, with Stephen Deacon completing the scoring for the Raiders.