A goal and two assists saw Anthony Leone secure the man of the match award on Saturday evening as the Invicta Dynamos came back from 3-2 down in the final period to win 5-3 against the Streatham Redskins in the NIHL South Division 1.

Coming into the tie the hosts were at full strength but they failed to click from the off and look toothless over a number of early powerplays including an extended 5-on-3. In fact, it was during a two minute high sticks penalty to Russell Stevens that their misery with the extra man was compounded as the visitors tallied two shorthanded strikes in the space of a minute.

With the Dynamos camped in the Redskins zone, a deadly accurate breakout pass from Dominic Hopkins spotted Jakub Klima all alone on the opposition blue line and the Czech ‘import’ skated in on net before lashing high over the glove of Andy Moffat to make it 1-0.

The second goal then followed a similar pattern as the hosts were again caught up the ice looking to make their powerplay count. Returnee Anthony Leone exhibited a little rust as he was robbed by Klima in the neutral zone, providing the forward with another breakaway, and he capitalised once again by driving into the top left corner of the net for the two goal edge. It was an advantage that would hold until the break as the Dynamos struggled to create genuine goalscoring opportunities with the Redskins back line standing firm.

After a poor opening frame, the hosts were sent out early for the second and, despite their play still falling short of the mark, they exhibited more fight from the off as Grant Baxter and Jamie McIlroy ditched the gloves to dance. What followed though was a brief wrestling match as McIlroy attempted to remove the shirt of his opponent before Baxter pushed him to the ground to end the scrap within a matter of seconds. With both combatants dispatched to the penalty box, play was then ready to resume but the gloves were off again from the resulting faceoff as Anthony Lennon and Phil Manny squared up.

This time punches were thrown, with the sizeable Manny starting the stronger before the Dynamos blue liner gave a good account of himself, landing a number of blows ahead of securing the takedown to the delight of the home crowd. Despite the fights breaking up Streatham’s play at a time when a third goal might have put them out of sight, the Dynamos still stuttered in front of net when the action restarted until a moment of brilliance from Callum Best saw them break their duck.

With seven minutes to go, Best entered the offensive zone, tricked two defenceman off of their feet to go in on goal, neatly stick handled in front of the keeper and then sent a low backhand beyond Will Sanderson to make it 2-1. With their deficit now halved the hosts would at least now be in the running when they returned to the ice following the second frame break.

With two frustrating periods behind them, the Dynamos had to make the final twenty minutes count and they struck early on in the last to level the tie at 2-2. Justin Noble showed there’s more to his game than a high work rate as he surfaced from behind the net on the left side and, from level with the goal line, scooped the puck into the top near corner of the frame with a backhand that caught netminder Will Sanderson by surprise.

The home side’s momentum would quickly hit a brick wall though, as the visitors grabbed a third less than two minutes later to go 3-2 ahead. This time a pinpoint breakout pass from Luke Reynolds spotted Jakub Klima again in behind the Dynamos rear guard and the lethal Czech was in no mood to spurn the opportunity for a hat-trick as he rifled in off of the left shoulder of Andy Moffat who had no answer to the ‘import’ forward. Now chasing the game once again, the home side pushed up the ice and they managed to secure an equaliser less than two minutes after going behind with a strike that seemed to change the path of the tie. In a scrappy goalmouth scramble, numerous forwards waved at the play before Anthony Leone finally seized control just left of the target and he swept the puck into the near side of the frame on the back hand to announce his return and make it 3-3.

Despite then losing Canadian Justin Noble to a misconduct that would put him out of the rest of the fixture, the Dynamos continued to push forward and finally looked the more dangerous of the two sides. As a result, with the Redskins now tiring from their earlier exertions, the home side took the lead with eight minutes remaining to go ahead for the first time on the night. This time it was the hosts’ turn to tally whilst shorthanded as, with Noble also serving a minor for elbows, Tim Smith’s excellent long diagonal up the ice threaded the needle and sent Andy Smith in all alone.

The Dynamos captain skated in on Will Sanderson, deked left across the crease to commit the netminder and then coolly lifted over the grounded goalie and into the roof of the target to make it 4-3. With the clock now against them, the visitors had little option but to pull their shot stopper with a minute to go and they would pay the price just seconds from the buzzer when Peter Vaisanen robbed the Streatham back line to go in on target with just Joe Johnston blocking his path. Vaisanen skipped right to get a view of the net around the Streatham captain and then sent a backhand shot over the line to seal a dramatic 5-3 victory.

So it was a first win in six for the Dynamos who rescued the points after a dismal opening two frames. Whilst it was far from the polished display Head Coach Kevin Parrish will be craving from his team, it was a solid comeback in the final period that showed character and will provide the squad with a much needed confidence boost. Man of the match awards on the night went to lethal Czech Jakub Klima of the visitors whilst Anthony Leone’s one goal and two assists saw him take the honours for the hosts on his first game back.

Picture by David Trevallion