Dreams of a place in the NIHL Southern Cup final came to an abrupt end for the Invicta Dynamos in a dramatic game on Sunday night.

Going into the second leg of the semi-final against the Streatham Redskins, Kevin Parrish’s side knew they held a slight advantage having secured a 4-4 draw the night before.

With a packed crowd in Gillingham and most of them cheering on the Dynamos, it looked to be a night to remember and it will go down as one that will never be forgotten.

The game had started with the Dynamos missing the injured Chris Douglas and Shaun Yardley, whilst Ryan Giles was still on holiday, but there was better news with Andy Smith and Peter Beerling returning to the roster after missing Saturday’s game.

It was a lively start to the game with Sean Scarborough taking just thirteen seconds to open the scoring for the visitors.

That goal served to inspire the Dynamos though and they soon raced into a 5-1 lead in the opening period with Andy Smith scoring twice, whilst Juraj Huska, Elliott Knell and Danny Hammond all got themselves on the scoresheet.

There was still time at the end of the first though for Streatham to pull one back though with Steven Fisher slotting past Davey Jackson just over a minute before the break.

The second period was as entertaining as the first with Callum Fowler, Marek Nahlik and Huska helping the Dynamos race into an 8-3 lead and even after Arran Strawson spent four minutes in the box for fighting, the Dynamos were to go 9-4 up as Smith grabbed his third of the night.

That’s where the game should have been dead and buried with the Dynamos sitting on the five goal aggregate lead.

However, there was to be a twist in the tale as Streatham showed some real desire to get back into the game with Scarborough scoring a brace and Liam Rasmussen scoring the other shortly before the break to make it 9-7 going into the final period.

That next twenty minutes felt like the longest most Dynamos fans will ever have to endure and former home favourite Callum Best was to bring it back to 9-8 before Scarborough sent it into extra time by grabbing yet another goal a minute before the buzzer.

Five extra minutes couldn’t separate the two sides with the Dynamos going close on more than one occasion, but it was to be penalties that decided who went to the final.

With both sides having scored their first four, Davey Jackson pulled off a great save to deny former Dynamo Jack Tarczycki, only for Marek Nahlik to have his shot saved at the other end.

Dominic Hopkins was to score for Streatham to put the pressure back on the Dynamos and unfortunately, Strawson was to see his effort saved.

That fine margin between success and failure means Streatham will compete in the final, whilst the Dynamos will have time to reflect on where it went wrong this week before entertaining the London Raiders in the Trophy on Saturday night before returning to league action away at Solent & Gosport on Sunday evening.

To listen to our exclusive interviews with Kevin Parrish and Callum Fowler after the game, click here: https://soundcloud.com/kent-sports-news

Picture supplied by David Trevallion.