Invicta Dynamos fan Lee Allen looks back at the past few weeks in his exclusive blog.
As always, it’s been another busy month at Invicta. Following a short Christmas break the Dynamos were back in action on the 10th January 2016 at home against Bracknell.
The Bracknell game produced a 7-3 victory for the Mo’s and also a first Invicta Dynamos career goal for Bradley Gutridge.
Two goals each from Steve Osman and Eriks Ozollapa as well as singles from Conor Redmond and Nicky Lewis ensured a perfect start to January. Near the end of the game Grant Baxter and Brad Watchorn dropped the gloves to dance with Watchorn claiming the takedown.
Saturday 16th January took the first away game of the new year to Lee Valley with the Dynamos locking horns with the London raiders once more.
It was a comfortable victory for the Dynamos, bagging a 3-0 win thanks to Josh Condren, Eriks Ozollapa and Adam McNicoll who scored in his first game back from injury. Josh Condren could have had a second goal, but made a mess of a penalty by tripping over himself leaving Ryan Bainborough with no shot to save.
It was also a perfect shutout for netminder Damien King, saving 39 shots and also forcing Bailey Chittock to shoot wide of the mark on his penalty shot in the third period.
Perhaps the hardest games of the month on paper were against the Wightlink Raiders, where the Mo’s would have to face Jeremy Cornish and his troops on two occasions.
The first came on Sunday 17th January at Gillingham. The end result was a 4-4 draw, which on reflection was probably a fair result. Goal from Callum Fowler (2) and Eriks Ozollapa continued to show they are building a good partnership whilst Jacob Ranson also got on the scoresheet. Alexander Sampford claimed two of the Wightlink goals, including the vital equaliser on the 55th minute.
A big talking point of the game came when my ex-lodger Arran Strawson stuck-up for Callum Fowler. In the past we have seen Wightlink deliberately target Callum so when Damon Larter started to lash out and begin landing blows from behind Arran Strawson rugby tackled his opponent to the ice whilst Steve Osman exchanged shoves with Robert Streetly and Eriks Ozollapa tangled briefly with Ben Paynter.
The result was a match penalty for Larter whilst Strawson was also ejected for third man in at 27.01.
Tempers then flared again later in the period, Streetly reacting to a trip from Harrison Lillis by chasing his opponent down and landing punches. Lillis did his best to return to his feet and return the blows and was eventually sent to the box with a tripping minor and Streetly picking up 2+2+2 for roughing.
Harrison Lillis went on to claim the man of the match awards after stepping into Strawson’s vacant position on the first line.
On Thursday 21st January the Dynamos announced the departure of defenceman Andy Henderson who was returning back to Scotland for a new career opportunity.
Andy has been a consistent performer for the team this season, and also chipped in with a few vital goals, and he will be missed. The blow was softened by the good form of Harrison Lillis who has grabbed the opportunity to take more ice time with both hands.
Saturday 23rd January brought the first of 3 away games in 6 days. Another comfortable 6-2 win at Bracknell was cemented by goals from Eriks Ozollapa (2), Adam McNicoll (2), Nicky Lewis and Josh Condren.
The travelling away fans were treated to a special bit of skill by Condren for his goal, rounding three Bracknell players and guiding the puck past Milton for a brilliant effort.
As we have seen in a few games this season, the opposition will try to intimidate this Invicta side. After JJ Pitchley went down injured after a collision with Zosiak, Bracknell enforcer Brad Watchorn tried to force the Dynamos import to drop the gloves.
With a scrimmage starting to breakout, Conor Redmond and Harrison Lillis tried to break things up, with Lillis doing well to hold Watchorn. JJ Pitchley and Damien King were also in a tussle later in the game, the Invicta netminder giving Pitchley a few hits and winning the contest and picking up a minor for roughing for his troubles. The game als0 marked the comeback of Baily Wootton who was injured in December with a knee injury.
Sunday had the Dynamos travelling to Gosport – to play the Wightlink Raiders. With the Wightlink rink still unavailable whilst roof repairs are carried out, this rearranged fixture hosted at the home of the Solent Devils took place just after 7pm.
The Dynamos were missing Callum Fowler who injured his ankle at Bracknell and Nicky Lewis. Despite going ahead through Arran Strawson on a powerplay, the Dynamos fell behind 3-1 going into the last period – made all the harder after Steve Osman was given a game penalty for high sticks on Ryan Webb which produced a bit of blood.
With the chips down, the spirt of the camp shone through as two Eriks Ozollapa goals and another goal from josh Condren gave Invicta a 4-3 lead – only to be robbed by a Jaroslav Cesky goal that meant both teams had to settle for another 4-4 draw.
A rare Thursday night game (28th January) put Invicta up against Chelmsford in the SE Trophy. With Chelmsford having all but won the competition it gave Kevin Parrish the opportunity to give his whole roster a run out, with Steve Nightingale, Grant Baxter and the likes getting valuable ice time.
Invicta went on to lose 9-1. For travelling fans like me, it was probably the delays at Dartford getting to the rink that was more painful than the result, I think we all probably would rather a push in the league and other competitions than this one.
Touching on the traffic – me and Steve Wolfe were caught in the traffic longer than the game itself and we did witness a few fans arriving well into the second period due to it.
Also amongst the Invicta fans was two ex-players in Marik Nahlik and Michael Oravec, it was good to see they chose our section to watch from.
Saturday 30th finally gave us a home game, and a game that on paper was a very hard one against the Oxford City Stars. Oxford have beaten Invicta and Chelmsford this season and are the most improved team this year. Invicta grab another good league win, goals from Eriks Ozollapa (3), Conor Redmond and Callum Fowler securing a 5-1 victory.
There were three roughing incidents in the game, Callum Fowler, Jack Lee and Brad Gutridge each involved. For his part, Brad could not play any further part after banging his head, leaving a bump the size of a tennis ball. The Dynamos also lost Adam McNicoll early in the game, as he slid across the ice he was unfortunate to take a puck in the face, a suspected broken nose was the early diagnosis.
The team spirit really shown through during this game……little was I to know that on Sunday this would go up yet another level.
So the last day of a busy month arrived on Sunday and a trip to the roundabout capital of the UK, Milton Keynes…..and another late face-off.
During the warm-up it was noticeable that Invicta had no netminder warming-up, Damien King watching from the sidelines in his tracksuit and no Steve Nightingale amongst the roster.
Word soon got to me that Damien’s equipment didn’t travel with the rest of the gear from Kent (Damien also does not live in Kent by the way). So…..my first thought is oh bugger….does that mean a delay of game….does that mean a forfeit?
I’m on Twitter duty tonight too, thoughts in my head include ‘what do I do now’ knowing as soon as this becomes open in the media all types of comments, gossip etc. will erupt.
I choose to hang on to the last possible second, and true to all our fears, Invicta started the game with 6 skaters and Damien watching from the sidelines in his tracksuit.
As soon as I put this on Twitter by phone was buzzing non-stop. Luckily, as I was tweeting match incidents, Steve Wolfe was replying to as many questions on Twitter that he could leaving me free to get all the action across to the fans at home.
The Dynamos adopted what could be best described as a sweeper-keeper system, with the likes of Harrison Lillis and Elliott Dewey taking the role of hovering behind the D-men and acting as the last line of defence.
Dewey did well to deny Matthew Roberts after a minute and Invicta held out until just over two minutes when Thomas Castle collected a loose puck and scored in the unguarded frame to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.
Almost two minutes later Ondrej Zosiak made a very rare mistake that allowed Tom Mboya to double the home side’s edge to two at 03.54. Invicta’s hardworking forwards were also showing great teamwork – as well as chasing down every MK shirt, their puck possession and retention went a considerable way in helping ease the pressure on the rear guard.
Matthew Roberts was getting frustrated by this and wiped out Joshua Condren on 04.31 to give the Dynamos a powerplay and a chance to have a breather whilst Callum Fowler tested Thunder goalie Villem-Henrik Koitmaa.
After the powerplay, Elliott Dewey chested a shot away from the Mos goal before Coach Parrish called a timeout to help kill some seconds and rally his troops.
Frustratingly, Arran Strawson then got called for tripping and the visitors were left to defend their empty net a skater down. However, with sweeper-keeper Dewey again blocking well and Callum Fowler carrying the play from one end to the other, the Dynamos successfully killed the man advantage.
With 1 minute 22 seconds remaining on the clock a now fully kitted Damien King was finally able to join the game prompting the Mos to change strategy and go from defending to attack.
The hard work paid off at 19.59 – the Thunder defending a powerplay but allowing Eriks Ozollapa and Steve Osman to pose problems in a crowded MK defence zone and Callum Fowler the opportunity to rifle home just before the buzzer to make it 2-1 at the end of the period.
Damien King had his first involvement in the tie with a save on 20.56 that denied MK captain Jamie Line. King’s opposite number Villem-Henrik Koitma, was next in the action, thwarting a powerful slapshot from Harrison Lillis moments later.
Following a hooking call on Line, the Dynamos then notched the equalising goal on 23 minutes, Arran Strawson finding Steve Osman on the left and the forward hitting the puck across goal for Callum Fowler to tap in for 2-2.
Invicta were now firmly on top and all of Eriks Ozollapa, Strawson and Conor Redmond went close before the Mos had to switch game plan once again in the 35th minute having taken penalties on Elliott Dewey and Harrison Lillis.
However the Thunder rarely threatened King’s goal during the powerplay and, as soon as the visitors got back to full strength, Tom Castle and Matt Roberts both picked up minors giving the Dynamos the chance to attack 5-on-3.
It led to the Dynamos going a goal-ahead on 39.20 – Fowler turning provider for Osman to score, Elliott Dewey claiming the second assist.
After literally being a spectator for much of the first, Damien King only faced four shots during the second period but he was called into action early in the third, denying Ross Bowers soon after the restart. Invicta then stretched their lead to 4-2 in the 42nd minute, Conor Redmond grabbing his second goal of the weekend, assisted by Osman and McNicoll – Osman making it a hat-trick of assists to go with his goal.
At 43.30 Eriks Ozollapa put the game beyond doubt, the Latvian accepting Callum Fowler’s inviting pass to increase the score to 5-2. Tom Mboya did have a great opportunity to claw one back for MK with ten minutes remaining but a defiant King stopped his progress with an outstretched leg.
Then, when Thunder veteran Jamie Randall was penalised for hooking on 59.00, Invicta wrapped-up the game just seven seconds later – Ozollapa grabbing his second of the night, and Strawson his third assist as the away side rounded off a 6-2 victory….and a shutout for Damien King.
From my own perspective, it was the most nervous I’ve been at a game for ages. The D-men all did a fantastic job protecting an empty goal, Elliott Dewey and Harrison Lillis in particular.
What should not get lost in the headlines is how hard the forwards worked too, not shy in chasing the puck down, when they had the puck, they did well to keep hold of it.
I couldn’t really track how long Callum Fowler had possession of the puck in the first period, but it must have been a big total – on the Arran Strawson powerplay he carried it up to the MK net – and then all the way back to our zone, helping to kill time.
Every player was man of the match – and as mentioned earlier in this blog, the spirit within the camp really shone through.
So…one of the best games I have ever witnessed, defending an empty net for almost a whole period and winning it is probably a record somewhere (but I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong) – but hopefully I won’t see a game with the same circumstances again.