An entertaining game saw the Invicta Dynamos progress to the play-off semi-finals despite being run very close by the Solent Devils.

With the first leg having served up a tight 3-3 draw on Saturday night, it was set up nicely for the return fixture in Gillingham on Sunday evening with fans still celebrating the cup win from the week before.

No sooner had those fans taken their seats, the Dynamos raced into a three goal lead. The first of the trio came in the sixth minute as skipper Anthony Leone danced down the ice and roofed the puck into the net.

Making full use of a powerplay, the Dynamos made it 2-0 in the tenth minute with Callum Fowler following suit. A couple of minutes further on and the home side were cruising when Andy Smith popped up at the right place to fire home.

Sensing the game was getting beyond them already, Solent called a time out and it worked as in the 19th minute they clawed one back, using a powerplay to fire past Mark McGill with George Norcliffe the man on target.

Only eighteen more seconds had passed when the Dynamos restored their three goal lead with Juraj Huska stylishly firing past Christian Calder in the Devils goal.

At 4-1 up going into the second period, it seemed as though it was going to be a comfortable evening for the Dynamos, but that was soon put in doubt as Solent pegged it back to 4-2 within 31 seconds of the restart with Andrew Campbell the scorer.

Once again the Dynamos rallied and made it 5-2 on the night in the 29th minute with Fowler claiming the goal, whilst Adam McNicoll and unusually McGill claimed the assists.

With the game becoming ever more stretched and open, the game seemed to have been put to bed in the 38th minute as the Dynamos made it 6-2 with Billy Phillips thundering home.

At that point it really should have been dead and buried as a tie, but Solent clawed another back a minute later with Campbell grabbing his second of the night to make it 6-3 going into the final period.

After a brief respite from goalmouth action, the game came back to life once more in the 47th minute with Solent bringing it back to 6-4 with Alex Sampford getting himself on the scoresheet making full use of yet another powerplay.

Two minutes later and it was 7-4 when Phillips once again showed his value to the side, stepping up from the blue line to power home.

When Fowler completed his hat-trick two minutes later to make it 8-4 on the night and 11-7 on aggregate, the game should have been over there and then. What the home side didn’t count on though was the steel and determination from Solent to make a real game of it.

Caught too far up the ice, too many times, the Dynamos were made to pay as one by one the Devils chipped away at the lead.

Andrew Magee made it 8-5 in the 52nd minute with Norcliffe adding another just a minute later.

After a time out from the Dynamos, the game calmed down, but with Callum Fowler serving a penalty in the final minute of the game, Campbell made it 8-7 with just seventeen seconds left on the clock.

Those seventeen seconds seemed to take an eternity and there was a huge sigh of relief from the home support when the buzzer finally did sound.

So in the end the statistics will show the game ended 8-7 on the night and 11-10 on aggregate. All the matters though is that the Dynamos are into next weekend’s play-offs against Milton Keynes Thunder who dispatched Streatham Redskins in their quarter final.

It will be a trip to Milton Keynes for the Dynamos on the Saturday night before returning to Gillingham on Sunday evening for what could be another entertaining tie.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion.

To listen to our exclusive interviews with Kevin Parrish and Billy Phillips from after the game, click here: