Ugly scenes marred the end of the game as the Invicta Dynamos beat Wightlink Raiders 3-1 in the league on Saturday night.

In what turned out to be not the most entertaining of games, all of the talk after was about the trading of punches in front of the Dynamos bench after the final buzzer.

The game had started in a sedate fashion with the Dynamos taking to the ice with new import Ilja Urushev coming straight onto the top line just three days after landing at Gatwick from Estonia.

With the two teams having been involved in a 15 goal thriller on the Isle of Wight earlier in the season with the Raiders coming out on top 8-7 on that day, fans could have been forgiven for thinking there were going to be plenty of goals in the game.

That wasn’t to be the case though and the first period passed without the scoreboard being troubled, although Brad Guttridge received a 2+10 penalty for a hit on Corey Watkins.

Charlie Phillips also showed he meant business as he too was keen to put his body about, felling former Dynamos defenceman Chris Cooke to the delight of the home support.

Thirty two seconds into the second period the visitors thought they had broken the deadlock, but the goal was washed out for having a player in Mark Lee’s crease.

Finally the game came to life in the 28th minute as Juraj Huska took the puck from Elliot Dewey before slamming high home past Matt Colclough in the Raiders net.

Going a goal behind only served to raise the tension for the Raiders with Jeremy Cornish prepared to put in some cheap shots on his Dynamos counterparts.

Even Huska was prepared to drop the gloves and go toe to toe as he came to blows with Simon Hobbis as the period ended with the Dynamos one goal in front.

It took until the 49th minute for the next goal of the game with Wightlink drawing level thanks to a neat interchange that saw Jaroslav Cesky clip home past Lee for 1-1.

They were level for just 61 seconds though as the Dynamos restored their lead with Callum Fowler dancing down the ice before slamming the puck into the roof of the net.

Twenty nine seconds after the restart and the next real flashspoint saw Charlie Phillips flatten Ben Paynter in front of the Dynamos bench. Cornish took exception to this and wanted retribution there and then with blows coming from all angles.

In the end Charlie Phillips was given a 2+10 for a check to the head even though it looked a fair challenge, whilst brother Billy was to be penalised with Cornish for roughing and cross checking.

With tensions still high and just 74 seconds left on the clock, the Raiders called a time out and elected to pull netminder Colclough and it proved to be a disastrous decision as they left themselves exposed at the back.

Needing to put pressure on the Dynamos goal, the Raiders left their net largely unguarded and Steve Osman was to receive the puck with 46 seconds left on the clock and he clipped it home to make it 3-1.

That was the way it stayed and with the Dynamos fans celebrating in the stands and the players set to shake hands, it all erupted.

Both Phillips brothers were by the Dynamos bench clapping their side off and over came Cornish looking to take the battle to another level. For no apparent reason he attempted to use his stick as a weapon at the Dynamos players off the ice and from that a melee ensued.

On the ice netminders Steve Nightingale and Shannon Long came to blows with the Dynamos man coming out on top.

After some time it all died down and the Dynamos were left to reflect on a win that sees them move to within three points of league leaders Chelmsford Chieftains and they head to Milton Keynes on Sunday night looking to beat an in form Thunder side.

Main pictures supplied by David Trevallion.