Invicta Dynamos fan Lee Allen looks back at the past few weeks and the joys of doing parkruns in his exclusive blog.
Saturday 12th December
As you may have read in my previous blog, I can’t do my usual Saturday parkruns due to injury, the good news for me is I’m in very capable hands. Two days ago I went to see Erin Rose, who most of you ice hockey fans will know from her Invicta Dynamos days. As well as running her own Sports Therapy business Erin is also Sports Therapist and Reserve Team Physio to Charlton Ladies FC.
I spent a full hour with Erin, where she identified that the three problems I have (knee pain, hamstring and lower back) were all connected – to cut a long story short, I’m a bit of a “wonky donkey”.
The injuries can be treated but to prevent future damage there is a number of things I need to do like balance correctly (I’m a bit too heavy on my right hand side) and build my muscles around my glute area and knee ligaments….also having flat feet arches don’t help.
So anyway, I will be with Erin for a while but when I left her the other day I came away with a positive attitude and also assured in my mind that with her help I will come back a better runner than previously.
The ice hockey takes the Invicta Dynamos to the London Raiders in Lee Valley this evening. I left home a bit earlier than usual as I was expecting the London traffic to be busy, but surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. As for the game itself the Raiders took the lead on 11.54, Tom Davis cutting in from the left to shoot past Damien King with Michal Oravec claiming the assist.
Shortly after netminder Michael Gray would then preserve that edge as he denied Zosiak the equaliser on 14 minutes and the period looked to be closing with the Raiders set to return to the changing room one up. However, with just 14 seconds of the frame remaining, Zosiak picked out Nicky Lewis who fired to the crease for Jacob Ranson to touch home beyond the diving Gray to make it 1-1.
The second period was initially a tight affair until Josh Condren put the Dynamos 2-1 ahead on 23.31. For the goal, Conor Redmond played the puck into the stick of Condren who shimmied to the left and curled his shot over the shoulder of Michael Gray and into the net to put the visitors in front.
London were then down to three skaters for a brief period after Frankie Harvey slashed Damien King from behind and Michal Oravec hooked Josh Condren, but Invicta were unable to capitalise on the two man advantage.
The Raiders would then suffer the same fate as the penalties went against the Mos, Nicky Lewis caught holding and Jacob Ranson holding an opponent’s stick but, despite being against two extra skaters for almost two minutes, the Invicta defence and Damien King kept the hosts at bay.
Tempers finally flared on 37.52, Tom Davis deliberately catching Eriks Ozollapa with the butt of his stick with a move that was missed by the officials. The outraged Ozollapa responded with a cross check to Davis seconds later before landing on the Raiders captain, the Latvian getting a match ban and early shower for his moment of retaliation.
With all of this happening very quickly, I struggled keeping up on Twitter, sometimes the devil of providing as many updates as possible on the club’s Twitter account for these away games is at times I miss some of the action.
I should also mention, for those of you who ask questions to the Twitter account during the game, I do try my hardest to respond to as many as I can (as does Paul for home games) but at times it’s just too busy to reply to everyone without missing key moments of the game, that or the answers are not always to hand, for instance asking why a player may be missing. Rest assured, we will try and answer as many as we can, when we can.
With the third period all to play for it was another tense affair. The Dynamos had to defend another 5-on-3 penalty early in the period but nothing was going to beat Damien King with the shot stopper in excellent form.
At the other end, home netminder Michael Gray had to be alert to prevent David Oliver scoring what could have been a comical own goal on 45 minutes. Gray was not to be so fortunate soon after, Steve Osman dancing through the Raiders defence with ease and shooting at the nemintder – the puck hitting the goalie and looping up into the net for a shorthanded strike that made it 3-1.
King then produced the save of the match in the 51st minute to preserve that lead – forming a star shape to keep a frustrated Marek Nahlik at bay. Despite numerous penalties the Mos then held firm to wrap-up two vital league points.
It was no surprise that Damien King took the man of the match beers for the visitors – producing a 96.30% save percentage having faced 27 shots and only being defeated once in what I thought was his best performance for the Dynamos so far this season.
There was a bit of traffic build-up on the way home, but I still got home just gone 10pm, match report written and then straight to bed.
Sunday 13th December
Tonight’s game is against Oxford. The player absentee count has increased due to injuries to Nicky Lewis, Adam McNicoll and Bailey Wootton whilst Eriks Ozollapa was sitting the suspension he picked-up against the London Raiders the night before.
Due to the number of forwards missing Andy Henderson was pushed up the ice to play a forward role with Harrison Lillis jumping-up a line and impressing in Henderson’s usual defence spot.
Henderson put Invicta into the lead after receiving a pass from Ondrej Zosiak the Scot hit a powerful shot past ex-EPL netminder Tom Annetts. Damien King did well all night but was finally beaten on the 28th minute through Darren Elliott to make it 1-1. Not long after the Elliott goal Ondrej Pekarik put Oxford into a 2-1 lead.
A big last period for Invicta got off to a perfect start with a 44th minute goal from Ondrej Zosiak slapshot which deflected off the arm of Annetts and into the net.
The remainder of the period showed the hard chasing that Invicta have become renowned for this season, but despite a few chances the winner never came and a 2-2 draw gave the home side another point to complete a 3 point weekend.
Tuesday 15th December
My usual matchday programme bits are almost finished, and the last part covers Mathew Beveridge who was a high scoring import forward for us a few years ago and will be guest of honour over the coming weekend. With the help of Jackie Mason we both get a really good interview put together for the programme.
Thursday 17th December
I was delighted to be asked to help with the video recordings of Christmas messages from the Dynamo players to the fans tonight at training.
Me and Paul Bennett set-up camp in the changing room underneath the home penalty box, and one-by-one each player recorded a message, some have more than one to do than others due to the number of requests we have had come through.
It was a busy time, we started at 9pm and worked all the way through until the guys went on the ice – this included the returning Callum Fowler featuring in the videos too.
Some guys really enjoyed the camera, Erik was a natural and Bailey Wootton started off a bit shy, but kept coming back for more near the end. Arran Strawson was last, it wasn’t quite the “camping game” scenario this time but still a good laugh with him around.
My role was the easy part, just showing the guys what they have to read out, making sure all the guys got recorded etc…..poor Paul has got the editing and creative bit to do.
Paul is a diamond for this club, his work cannot be praised highly enough and how he gets the time to do all of this voluntary work is beyond me. Paul has certainly ensured the Dynamos have the best media coverage in this league (and better than some in the EPL too).
Saturday 19th December
Again, no running but it was another step in the right direction thanks to another visit to see Erin Rose. My treatment is coming along nicely, the hamstring seems to be the slowest to heal but it’s on its way. Erin shows me a few more exercises to do until I next see her – and also shows me ways of standing without locking my knees – something I’m terrible for doing but will need to put right.
The away game tonight is at Bracknell – the warmest rink in the UK, and as per tradition at that rink, I’m in my shorts! It’s another good journey for us, no hold-ups despite it being the last weekend before the festive season.
Callum Fowler made his first appearance since signing during the week which was a boost with all three Wootton brothers unavailable and the suspended Eriks Ozollapa unable to play.
Bracknell started with aggression, led by one time Dynamo Brad Watchorn who put in a nasty looking challenge on Elliott Dewey within two minutes that went unnoticed.
Meanwhile, home netminder Danny Milton looked on edge during the first period, choosing to parry shots from Nicky Lewis and Ondrej Zosiak rather than catch. Despite this, Bracknell took the lead against the run of play on 14.07 – Tom Fisher hitting a shot from distance that caught the boot of an incoming player and changed direction to fly past Damien King leaving the goalie no chance.
The advantage lasted barely two minutes – Conor Redmond passing the puck from the middle of the pad to Jacob Ranson who skated towards Milton and fired beyond his right side to equalise.
Damien King had to be alert early in the second period – saving from the feet of Josh Martin when it looked like Bracknell might edge in front once again. With Callum Fowler starting to find more space, Brad Watchorn then took matters into his own hands by cross checking Fowler to the head and securing a total of twelve minutes in the penalty box as a result.
Despite hammering shots at Danny Milton during the powerplay, the Mos were unable to find a way through as the Bracknell netminder kept the scoreline unchanged – Steve Osman and Fowler both going close. The mounting Invicta pressure finally reaped a reward on 27.56 – Fowler lurking around the goalmouth with possession and then providing an open invitation for Steve Osman to tap into the net for a 2-1 lead.
Invicta would fail to take any further advantage during the remainder of the period and it was in fact Damien King who ended-up being the busier netminder, saving twice from Danny Hughes late on.
With only a 2-1 advantage going into the last frame, Invicta started the brighter. First Steve Osman fired wide after linking-up with Callum Fowler and then Conor Redmond had a shot saved by a defiant Danny Milton.
Bracknell’s Greg Chambers was then sin binned on 45 minutes for cross checking and would see his actions get punished yet further with the Mos scoring from the resulting powerplay.
Arran Strawson ran the puck up the left channel before squaring across for Redmond to nab beyond Milton to make it 3-1 to the visitors.
However seconds later the home team reduced the deficit to 3-2 with Danny Hughes securing a way past Damien King – Chambers claiming an assist. Knowing the next goal would be crucial for either team, it was the away side who pushed the harder for it and they grabbed it at 49.15 – Josh Condren following up a rebound from a Nicky Lewis drive to put Invicta 4-3 into the ahead – Condren hitting the ice following his shot and celebrating with his colleagues.
The forward would then sit in the penalty box for holding on 52 minutes and Bracknell took full advantage to score through Brad Watchorn – Chambers and Hughes both claiming a helping hand in the build-up.
A tough final five minutes had Josh Condren once again going close on 57 minutes and a late Ondrej Zosiak penalty on 59:50 gave Invicta a 6 on 4 skaters situation to defend after Bracknell pulled Milton from his net – but the away side held firm to secure two vital points.
Man of the match for Invicta went to Conor Redmond for his goal and two assists but Damien King was worthy of yet another honourable mention having ended the night with a 90.32% save percentage
Sunday 20th December
Xmas jumpers and teddy bear toss day….and also the opportunity to make it a 4 point weekend. This would be no easy game, tonight’s opponents, the London Raiders beat Streatham Redskins 10-4 on Saturday.
The teddy bear toss is a huge success with the hundreds of teddy bears tossed for Demelza Hospice in Sittingbourne.
I will be (hopefully) running for the charity in March and two of my good friends, Steve Wolfe and Brendon Davey will also be running in that event and also other marathons this year.
Brendon will be doing the Brighton marathon, and Steve the London one. It’s a great charity and I’m honoured to be visiting the hospice on Xmas Eve when the teddies get handed over. I will be writing an article on the whole experience later this week.
The game is a brilliant home coming for Callum Fowler who marked his return to the Silver Blades with a hat-trick as he helped us to a 7-1 win. Steve Osman and Callum Fowler combined for Fowler to fire the Mo’s into 1-0 6th minute lead. Fowler then doubled the lead to 2-0 on 09.44.
The biggest incident of the game came in the second period. Liam Chong’s check on Josh Condren was high. The crowd response and also from Grant Baxter was enough to suggest the check was bad and Condren was down on the ice for what seemed ages.
Liam Chong was given a match penalty for interference and would then take to Twitter to air his views about the incident, citing that Condren may have overreacted. The whole incident doesn’t take away the fact that Condren wasn’t in possession of the puck at the time when he got checked……hockey, there is never a dull moment.
Similar to when Eriks Ozollapa had to miss the end of the game, Josh came and sat with my family, having been assessed and told not to play any further part of the game.
The Mo’s got two goals out of the five minute powerplay, Ondrej Zosiak and Steve Osman putting the Dynamos into a four goal lead. Mason Webster finally beat Damien King to make it 4-1 in the third period when perhaps thoughts of a shutout were in peoples mind (it was mine during the interval). Nicky Lewis scored a solo powerplay goal that made it 5-1 before Steve Osman claimed his second of the night for 6-1.
Slashing between Mason Webster and Harrison Lillis resulted in punches being thrown, although it looked more like Lillis had little choice as he was still trying to free his gear as Webster was punching away.
Callum Fowler completed his hat-trick on 56.32 for a 7-1 victory and a four point weekend. But the drama didn’t end there as moments before the final buzzer a tussle between Jack Lee and Michael Gray resulted with Gray jumping Lee from behind and throwing punches.
After the game many fans stayed behind in the bar where the players and management all joined in with the festive celebrations.
It’s been a great 2015 this year for the Mo’s, with the cup final one of the highlights. The way the players interact with the fans in the bar tonight (and at every opportunity) goes to show why this is a great family club.