The Invicta Dynamos gave up a 2-1 lead in the final period of the ENIHL South Division 1 tie in Bracknell on Saturday evening to lose 3-2 at the hands of the Hornets with goals from Nathaniel Rose and Callum Fowler proving insufficient to claim any share of the spoils in Berkshire.

In the opening frame the visitors started brightly and should have gone ahead early on when Andy Smith’s centring pass found Peter Vaisanen bearing down on goal but the Canadian sent his backhand effort just inches over the target. Midway through and Justin Noble then came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when he escaped on the breakaway but his low shot to the left corner struck the upright and bounced to safety.

His disappointment was then further compounded as Daniel Hughes immediately claimed the loose puck for Bracknell, raced down the left channel and centred for a waiting Carl Thompson to rifle beyond Andy Moffat for the 1-0 edge.

However, despite seeing off a powerplay moments later, the Hornets would lose their slender lead five minutes from time as Nathaniel Rose tallied his first for the Dynamos since joining the club in the summer. Andy Smith made the goal as he skipped in from the right side and fired high towards net but, though Chris Douglas denied the visiting captain, Rose was on hand to stab home the rebound from just right of the crease for 1-1. It was a score that would hold until the buzzer with the teams returning to the changing rooms level pegging.

In the second period the Dynamos again made the brighter start and ‘import’ Justin Noble had an excellent opportunity to put his side ahead when Callum Best sent him beyond the Bracknell rear guard but the Canadian got too close to the netminder before pulling the trigger and so spurned the opportunity. The visitors would take the lead five minutes in though when Callum Fowler produced something from nothing to put them 2-1 to the good.

Fowler robbed one member of the Hornets back line against the right boards, stick handled his way around another to have a clear route to goal and then skated across the crease to commit the netminder before sending a low shot just inside the left stick to light the lamp. Having surged in front, the Dynamos should then have added to their tally as they enjoyed a number of powerplays but the closest they came was when Nathaniel Rose poked wide Tim Smith’s fired pass across the crease from the left side.

With time winding down, all that remained was for tempers to flare when Bracknell’s Nick Minhinnick made a check several seconds after the referee’s whistle to the annoyance of Jack Tarczycki. The Dynamos blue liner went in search of retribution but the coming together stopped short of fisticuffs with the officials making a timely intervention.

With the score standing at 2-1 to the visitors going into the last, the home side had plenty of work to do in the third if they were to take any points from the tie and they launched out of the traps – Peter Jasik putting them on level terms in just over a minute. The skilled Slovak netted a great solo goal as he charged down the right, used his pace to skip around Tim Smith to jink in from the wing and then lashed over the reach of Andy Moffat on his stick side to make it 2-2.

With the momentum now on their side, the Hornets then claimed another less than five minutes into the frame to lead the fixture for the second time on the night. ‘Import’ Jasik was again involved as his backhand effort from close left forced Andy Moffat into action and, though the Scottish netminder denied the Slovak, the puck dropped to Nick Minhinnick to the right of the frame who had half the target to aim at and duly fired in to make it 3-2. The Dynamos immediately called a timeout but by now the Hornets had the bit between their teeth and they remained the more likely to net as the period continued. Ben Paynter came close for the hosts as he was found between the faceoff circles by Tony Barclay but the forward’s one-timer was excellently blocked by a diving Andy Moffat with the goalie denying a certain goal.

With play winding down the visitors then found their comeback attempts halted by regular penalties and their fate was eventually sealed when the buzzer sounded to condemn them to a third straight road defeat.

So it was another miserable away day for the Dynamos who coughed up a winning position in the last to leave Berkshire with only the bruises to show from their encounter. After a competent first two frames, the travelling side failed to keep it going in the final period and ultimately paid the price as the Hornets overturned their deficit to seal the two league points. Man of the match awards on the night went to Andy Moffat of the Dynamos and Chris Douglas of the hosts.