The Invicta Dynamos winning league run came to an end on Sunday night as they lost 5-4 at home to Bracknell Hornets.

Having won their previous fourteen outings and sitting top of the NIHL South, the Dynamos went into the game on a high having beaten Streatham Redskins 6-2 the night before.

With Andy Smith welcomed back to the Silver Blades ice rink in Gillingham after registering his 1,000th point for the side the night before, it was all set up to be a great game against an in form Hornets side.

It all went according the script for the Dynamos in the opening fourteen minutes of the game, but the wheels came off after that and went downhill from there.

The game started in lively fashion with both sides looking to assert their physical dominance with Dynamos skipper Anthony Leone the first to be sent from the ice, picking up a 2+10 penalty for checking the head.

He was soon joined in the box by Billy Phillips, brother Charlie and Elliott Dewey as the Dynamos picked up penalty after penalty with the visitors suffering the same fate from the overly officious officials.

At one time it was 3 on 3 with the rink looking almost empty. With Juraj Huska off the ice for holding in the tenth minute and the Hornets back up to five, it came as a real surprise that the Dynamos scored an incredible powerplay goal with Andy Smith and Callum Fowler combining well to score a breakaway goal with the former tipping the puck home to delight of the home support who cheered point number 1,001.

Less than thirty seconds had passed after the restart and it all kicked off with Valdemar Pelikovsky having a pop at Smith, Billy Phillips steamed in to protect his team-mate and after a few lusty blows he was sent from the ice for roughing, picking up a 2+10 in the process.

Once again, the Dynamos showed they could find the back of the net in the 14th minute as the puck fell kindly to Arran Strawson, he shifted it left to Huska and the import did the rest firing home from just inside the blue line.

At 2-0 up and seemingly cruising, the Dynamos then hit the self destruct button, conceding twice in the final two minutes of the period.

First up Danny Hughes was allowed to breakaway down the ice alone and slotted the puck past the stranded Mark Lee and with just twenty seconds left on the clock the scores were level when Tom Fisher rounded off a great move.

With the home fans wanting more from their side in the second period, the Dynamos came out firing, but soon found themselves picking up more penalties with Charlie Phillips sent to the bin for ten minutes for a misconduct.

They came ever so close to leading when Smith clipped the bar, but took the lead in the 24th minute when Fowler rammed home from close range.

Once again the visitors came back fighting and were level on the half hour with Peter Jasik showing a good turn of pace to steam down the ice before clipping past Lee.

Five minutes later and Jasik added his second of the night as the import once again broke free with the Hornets taking no notice of the fact they were a man down at the time.

More penalties followed for the Dynamos with both Phillips brothers guilty of picking up more time off the ice and it was 4-3 to the Hornets going into the final period.

With the game firmly in the balance and the zamboni ice cleaning machine not working, it was all down to the final twenty minutes and the Dynamos took full advantage of a powerplay to net in the 46th minute with Billy Phillips firing into the roof of the net from the blue line.

At this point the crowd were lifted and the Dynamos should have gone on to win the game, but they once again picked up penalties and the Hornets made them pay in the 52nd minute with Carl Thompson adding the fifth with Lee once again left hung out to dry.

A timeout gave the Dynamos some thinking time and after some deliberation they pulled netminder Lee towards the end, but they couldn’t find the back of the net and were left to reflect on their first defeat in fifteen league games.

The Dynamos stay top of the league by two points ahead of Chelmsford Chieftains who won 3-0 at home to Solent Devils. The Essex side have three games in hand and next up for the Kent side is a trip to Solent on Saturday evening before the much anticipated return of Wightlink Raiders to Gillingham on Sunday night.

To listen to our exclusive interviews with Kevin Parrish and Andy Smith after the game, click here: