Invicta Dynamos fan Lee Allen looks back at the last few weeks of the season and the joys of doing parkruns in his exclusive blog.
Sunday 11th October
Two goals from Eriks Ozollapa was enough to see the Invicta Dynamos beat the Wightlink Raiders 2-1 at the SilverBlades to make it three league wins on the bounce.
Craig Tribe’s consolation goal in the 58th minute spoiled a shut out for Mark McGill. Man of the match went to Harrison Lillis who stepped-up a line following injuries to Adam McNicoll and Arran Strawson.
Monday 12th – 16th Friday October
News breaks early in the week that netminder Mark McGill had left the Dynamos and returned to Scotland with Invicta confirming via a statement on the website that the accommodation provided by the club did not meet his requirements.
For my household, the knock-on effect is Arran Strawson (aka Roger the Lodger) left us on Thursday to take the spare room in the team house that was vacant.
It’s been a pleasure and interesting experience housing Arran over the last few weeks and something I would probably do again. A nice touch by Arran was to buy the wife and kids some gifts as a thank you…….I’m sure he will be back for a few nights here and there for some homemade cooking.
Saturday 17th October
As always, Saturday starts with a park run, this one was at Malling (Leybourne Lakes) and as you can see in the photo, we have gained a dog in our running group……we could still do with a few more Dynamo fans joining us however.
This weekend consists of two cup games, away to London Raiders and home to Chelmsford. The travel to London Raiders at Lee Valley goes really well with no traffic hold-ups. It’s probably the easiest away game to drive to, whilst the views consist of the O2, Canary Wharf, the Olympic stadium and many more.
The game itself ends in a 4-4 draw. At one stage in the game the Mo’s were winning 4-2 through two goals each from Nicky Lewis and Eriks Ozollapa, with Ozollapa also missing a late penalty shot. Haydn Wootton played his first senior game for Invicta, where he also jumped up a line once Josh Condren got stretchered off the ice on 39:56 following a challenge unseen by the officials.
After the game I interviewed Haydn Wootton, I’m not sure who was more nervous, him or me but we battled through it. The journey home was one big pain…….an accident at the Blackwall tunnel resulted in a diversion using the A13 and Dartford.
Match report and interview link: http://www.kentsportsnews.com/london-raiders-4-4-invicta-dynamos-17-10-2015/
Sunday 18th October
Another game against Chelmsford, the third in as many weeks and it ends in a 5-1 defeat with Jacob Ranson scoring the consolation goal for the Dynamos. After the game I manage to catch Eriks Ozollapa in the bar for an interview for the matchday programme, this will be published for the Cardiff game, you need to buy one to find out who Eriks thinks is the scariest in the changing room and why!
Friday 23rd October
The news that quite a few people second guessed on social media was made official tonight – Damien King had joined from MK Thunder. King is well respected within the game and is a top netminder, I’m sure we will see him do very well at the SilverBlades this season.
Saturday 24th October
No game today, but an opportunity to catch-up with fellow Invicta fans (and a dog) at the Great Lines (Gillingham) park run. Some league results filter through during the night, including Sunday’s opponents Streatham shutting out Wightlink Raiders for a two nil victory.
Sunday 25th October
The effort and chasing was there, but Invicta end-up losing five nil at home to the Streatham Redskins who complete a double shutout for the weekend. For Invicta its only one home goal in the last two home games, whilst questions will certainly be aimed at the officials about tonight’s game.
A blatant elbow to the face of the Invicta D-man Ondrej Zosiak by Chris Wiggins gets unpunished by referee Blaine Evans who adds salt to the wounds by giving the Invicta bench a penalty for protesting…..I’m sure the excellent highlight footage the Invicta team provide will show why the Invicta bench quite rightly protested the incident.
After the game I catch Jacob Ranson for a programme interview which will be published in a few weeks time. Apart from Jacob I also have Arran Strawson and Harrison Lillis lined-up from the current squad and also ex-players, Ali Band, Andy Hannah and Zach Sullivan who I’m sure many fans remember well.