It was the end of the NIHL Southern Cup dream for the Invicta Dynamos as they bowed out at the semi-final stage.
Kevin Parrish’s side went into the 2nd leg of their clash with Streatham Redskins after an epic and tight clash in London on Saturday evening that ended 1-0 to the home side.
Going into the game in Gillingham, expectation was high from the Dynamos as they looked to defend the title they took so well in 2015.
Without the services of Damien Welch, Haydn Wootton and brother Taylor, the Dynamos still looked to have a strong roster on paper as they welcomed back both Nicky Lewis and Callum Fowler after the pair missed the Saturday evening clash.
If there was ever any doubt that the game was going to be entertaining, it was put to bed as early as the 4th minute as Fowler used all his trickery to clip the puck home past Will Sanderson.
Back level on aggregate, the tie was there to fight for and that’s literally the way it went as time and time again Streatham showed their physical side to their game with the officials generously only calling certain infringements.
As the first period wore on, Streatham began to show they were also prepared to play some ice hockey and were rewarded with around five minutes to go as Joe Allen beat Damien King to make it 1-1 on the night.
Moments later and Chris Wiggins used all of his large frame to slam into Arran Strawson with his stick up, leaving the Dynamo dumped on the ice, with the officials seemlingly having missed the blatant charge.
Again it took just three minutes into the second period for the Dynamos to score again, import Eriks Ozollapa dancing his way into a good position before scoring.
Any hopes of the Dynamos were going to pull off a stunning victory were dashed though in the second period as Streatham made full use of a powerplay to make it 3-2 on the night when Kamil Kinkor was on target.
Not long after and Nick Chinn made it 4-2 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate much to the delight of the travelling support.
With a three goal advantage going into the final period, the Redskins knew they needed to just see the game out and they survived until the 57th minute when Steve Osman made it 4-3 and the deficit was just two goals again.
The Dynamos threw everything they had at their opponents in the final few minutes and were caught with a sucker punch with just 21 seconds left on the clock as Chinn fired into an empty goal as the home side had pulled netminder Damien King just moments before.
In the end, the 5-3 and 6-3 on aggregate scoreline flatters a Streatham side that will now face the Chelmsford Chieftains in the final.
As for the Dynamos, they begin their final six league games next weekend, travelling to Solent on Saturday night before returning to Gillingham on Sunday evening to take on league leaders Chelmsford.
To listen to our exclusive interview with Kevin Parrish from after the game, click here: