The Romford Raiders fought back from a 4-1 deficit to clinch a 4-4 draw against the Invicta Dynamos on Sunday evening and deny the Gillingham club a victory despite an excellent performance and goals from Callum Fowler (2), Andy Smith and Nicky Lewis.

Romford arrived in Gillingham with a reputation for bullying their opponents but their hosts were in no mood to roll over as a fight broke out in the sixth minute of play. Nathaniel Rose looked to poke the puck beyond goalie Shane Kemp from point blank range leading to opposing blue liner Julian Smith then attempting to jump the forward for what he saw as a late check on his netminder.

Rose initially stood his ground before responding firmly, ditching his gloves and landing a number of heavy punches that saw him score the win in the fight before the referee bravely intervened. Just moments later and a second scrap followed, this time Andrius Kaminskas chasing down Peter Vaisanen following a clean but solid hit by the Canadian behind the Romford net. After receiving a cross check from the Lithuanian, Vaisanen responded by claiming the greater quantity of blows before Kaminskas pushed the fight to the floor and landed on top.

When play restarted it was the visitors who were then denied the breakthrough as David Wride recovered from a Juraj Huska drive on the left to brilliantly block a Billy Phillips follow up close right and make a stunning stop with Phillips seemingly having the goal at his mercy. The visitors would further rue that miss midway through the frame as Justin Noble picked out Callum Fowler racing towards the target and the Brit forward gathered before lashing high over the reach of Shane Kemp from between the circles for 1-0. The hosts were then under pressure for the remainder of the period as they suffered penalty trouble but, having killed a spell of 5-on-3, they held out until the buzzer to return to the changing rooms with the narrow edge.

Buoyed by a strong showing in the opening frame, the Dynamos made a lively start to the second and doubled their lead within 45 seconds of the restart. Callum Fowler skipped in from the right boards and along the goal line before firing towards the far stick where Andy Smith celebrated his 301st appearance for the club with what was perhaps the easiest of his 405 goals for the side – a back post tap-in. The prolific forward could have made it 3-0, moments later, as he escaped through on the breakaway but, though his low drive flew beyond Shane Kemp, the puck bounced to safety off of the foot of the left upright to leave the score at 2-0.

This gave the Raiders hope of a revival and those ambitions grew stronger in the eighth minute as Billy Phillips charged up the left wing and behind the Dynamos net before pulling back to Shaun Yardley on the edge of the crease who bundled in from close range. Far from letting their heads drop though, the home side went back on the offensive and netted twice in the space of two minutes to secure a comfortable looking 4-1 advantage.

Their third came as Andy Smith prevented a poor Romford clearance from leaving the zone and passed on to an unmarked Callum Fowler in front of net who took his time, picked his spot and launched high into the left side of the frame. The fourth then followed quickly and came as a result of the front trio of Justin Noble, Callum Best and Nicky Lewis constantly hassling the Raiders rear guard with Noble winning possession in the final third. The Canadian found Nicky Lewis on the right wing with the forward’s shot from a tight angle catching a fortuitous deflection off of a skate on the way through and slipping beyond Shane Kemp into the far corner of his goal.

However, just as they looked to be sinking without a trace, the visitors grabbed a vital response to cut the deficit to 4-2 just ahead of the break. Andrius Kaminskas saw his drive from deep left denied by David Wride but the puck held up in the crease where a waiting Matt Turner turned it home for the his team’s second.

Despite seeing their advantage reduced moments before the buzzer, the Dynamos were still favourites for the win at the start of the third and could have led 5-2 had Shane Kemp not thwarted Andy Smith’s breakaway. However, their hold on the tie began to waiver in the eighth minute when the Raiders tallied their third on the powerplay to ensure a tense finale. A Billy Phillips blue line drive was blocked in front by the defence but possession fell to Danny Marshall close left who tapped beyond an already committed David Wride to make it 4-3.

Further penalty trouble was not far away for the hosts, who then lost Justin Noble to a tripping minor, and, with the extra man at their disposal, Romford tallied again to draw level for the first time since the start of the tie. Player/coach Danny Marshall found Juraj Huska against the left boards and the Slovak sniper dispatched a deadly accurate wrist shot low into the far corner of the net to make it 4-4. By now the momentum was firmly with the visitors and they could have stolen the victory close to time had Andrius Kaminskas not struck the crossbar having skipped in from the right channel. However, the home side held on, despite a late penalty to Peter Vaisanen, and the spoils were shared come the final buzzer with the Raiders securing a point from the jaws of defeat.

So it was disappointment for the Dynamos in the end who gave up a 4-1 lead to tie the game 4-4. Nevertheless it was a much improved performance from the side and Head Coach Kevin Parrish will have been pleased with the effort his squad put in out on the ice. Man of the match awards went to the excellent David Wride of the home side whilst Matt Turner took the beers for the Raiders.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion