The Invicta Dynamos tasted defeat for the first time this season as they were beaten 4-2 by the Chelmsford Chieftains.
In what was an unusual 8:15pm face off time in Gillingham, the two best sides from the NIHL South last season came head to head for the South East Trophy clash.
With plenty of vocal support for the home side, the game started in cautious fashion with neither side prepared to give much away.
The two teams went toe to toe with a succession of penalties breaking up the flow of the game.
It came as no surprise then that the opening twenty minutes of the game without the scoreboard being troubled.
The Dynamos finally broke the deadlock in the 29th minute with Ondrej Zosiak breaking from just outside his own goal, danced down the ice evading all the challenges coming his way before sliding the puck past Euan King.
With the visitors looking to disrupt the home side taking an advantage, Jack Lee and Grant Bartlett came to blows with the Dynamos man coming out on top in the 36th minute clash.
Less than a minute later and Chelmsford made full advantage of their powerplay with Matthew Turner redirecting the puck home.
At 1-1 going into the final period, the game was in the balance, but it was the Chieftains that stepped up a gear and raced into a 4-1 lead with former Dynamo Juraj Huska putting the visitors in front in the 42nd minute.
That was followed up by goals from Lukas Zatopek in the 48th and James Ayling in the 51st as the Dynamos began to tire.
They weren’t to give up though and to their credit they pulled a goal back in the 54th minute as Adam McNicoll thundered the puck past back up netminder Sonny Phillips.
Despite plenty of huff and puff, the Dynamos just couldn’t claw their way back into the game and had to accept they were second best on the night.
There’s little time to reflect on the defeat though as they face two difficult road trips this weekend, heading to Streatham Redskins on Saturday night before facing Chelmsford once again, this time in Essex on Sunday evening.
To listen to our exclusive interview with Kevin Parrish from after the game, click here: