The Invicta Dynamos secured a fourth place finish in the ENIHL South Division 1 with a win on Saturday evening.

A Nicky Lewis double, alongside goals from Andy Smith, Justin Noble, Adam Copland, Jack Tarczycki and Ryan Ellis, saw them overcome the Bracknell Hornets 7-3 in Berkshire.

The Dynamos took just eleven seconds to register in the opening frame as Andy Smith found Nicky Lewis all alone between the faceoff circles and the eventual man of the match lashed high over the reach of goalie Mark Petch to make it 1-0.

Fisticuffs were then to follow minutes later as Harrison Lillis and Lewis Turner took their behind the play confrontation to the next level by ditching the gloves. Lillis was the man who scored the victory by lifting his opponent’s shirt over the head and landing on top following a drawn out wrestling match.

Though Bracknell’s Daniel Hughes rang the upright with a slapshot late on, neither side were then able to find the net in remainder of the period and it stayed 1-0 with twenty minutes played.

Nicky Lewis registered twice on the night. In the second frame it took eight minutes for the next breakthrough to arrive but, when it came, it would prove the catalyst for four more before the buzzer. Daniel Hughes grabbed the first for the Hornets, as Ryan Webb’s pass put him in behind an advanced Dynamos’ rear guard, and the Bracknell captain drove in a slapshot from distance to make it 1-1.

They were level for just forty seconds however as Ryan Ellis found Andy Smith on the edge of the crease and, forced onto his backhand, he lifted over Mark Petch from close range to restore the visitors’ lead. During a slashing minor on Alan Lack, the Dynamos then grabbed a third with Adam Copland’s long drive rebounding off of the netminder’s pads to a waiting Nicky Lewis who roofed into the net from close right for 3-1.

Seconds later a fourth would follow – this time a rebound given up to Justin Noble between the circles and the Canadian poked under a grounded Mark Petch who desperately tried to readjust as the puck trickled over the line behind him. As the Dynamos began to move out of sight, tempers then flared for the hosts with Alan Lack clashing with both Tim Smith and Jack Tarczycki before Tarczycki reached his tolerance level and battled with the Hornets’ forward in a minor scrap.

The visiting blue liner landed the early blows but Lack finished the stronger in an even tussle that saw both players take a seat in the penalty box. When the action restarted the Dynamos remained on top and added one more before the buzzer to head back into the changing rooms 5-1 up. Ryan Ellis was denied twice in quick succession from the right side but the play found its way to Adam Copland on the edge of the crease who benefited from the netminder’s stranded status with a tap into the empty net from point blank range.

After a strong second period, the visitors started slowly in the third and this allowed the Hornets to cut the deficit and threaten an unlikely comeback. Midway through, the ever busy Alan Lack skipped in from the left corner and tucked home inside the near post beyond Andy Moffat to cut the Dynamos’ lead to three and, when Nicky Lewis took a seat for holding soon after, they struck again to make it 5-3. Lewis Turner was picked out just in front of the blue line and his venomous slaspshot flew beyond the unsighted netminder to increase Bracknell’s interest in the tie.

In the final moments, and now just two behind, the hosts then pulled Mark Petch from between the posts but their gamble failed to pay dividends as Jack Tarczycki found the unguarded target from the neutral zone despite having his back to goal. When Nicky Lewis was again sent to the box late on, this time for cross checking, they rolled the dice once more but again lost out as Ryan Ellis slotted into the empty net from his own blue line to secure the 7-3 victory.

So it was a fourth win over Bracknell for the Dynamos this season and, with the Cardiff ENL Devils losing out to Romford at the same time, one that saw the team cement a fourth place finish in the ENIHL South Division 1.

From here the squad returned home for their final outing of the regular season – a home clash with the Bristol Pitbulls – with faceoff at the Sillver Blades Ice Rink Gillingham at 5.15pm on Sunday evening.

Picture by David Trevallion