The Invicta Dynamos overturned a 4-2 deficit in the final frame on Sunday evening to overcome the Romford Raiders 6-4 in the NIHL Southern Cup and record a third straight victory ahead of next weekend’s double header.
Coming into the tie on the back of a home win over Chelmsford, the Dynamos were keen to beat the league’s other representatives from Essex but they initially struggled to carve out a genuine goalscoring opportunity – Adam Copland’s deflected blue line shot the closest they came to troubling goalie Michael Gray in the first period. As a result the Raiders were the first to put the puck in the net when Danny Marshall lashed back over the shoulder of Andy Moffat and into the top left corner of the frame from close right, but the goal was washed out with the referee sounding the whistle for a delayed penalty on blue liner Billy Phillips.
The visitors remained undeterred though, and they claimed a legitimate effort three minutes from time despite Frankie Harvey being seated for holding. A great 360 spin by Andrius Kaminskas saw the Lithuanian beat his man to enter the offensive zone before teeing up Matt Turner to his right and, though Turner’s drive was beaten away, AJ Smith followed up on the left side to make it 1-0.
The Dynamos began the second frame a goal down but a man up, with Romford’s Grant Taylor called for charging at the close of the first, but it was to be a disastrous start to the middle period as they coughed up two more shorthanded strikes. Danny Marshall’s drive from the goal line on the left side banked into the target off of goalie Andy Moffat before, just 14 seconds later, the team’s rear guard were far too casual with possession behind their own net and allowed Matt Turner to steal the play before slotting in at the near post from point blank range.
The suicidal defending prompted an enraged Moffat to pull himself from the clash with Head Coach Kevin Parrish calling a timeout to settle his troops. When the action then restarted, the hosts set about finding a way back into the tie and it was during a two minute minor to Jason Buckman that they finally broke their duck. Arran Strawson’s pass across the blue line found Callum Best quarterbacking the powerplay and, from the right side, he dispatched a high wrist shot towards the near post that caught the glove of Michael Gray but still found the net behind him.
Three minutes later, and the Dynamos were then within one, when Callum Fowler’s vision put Peter Vaisanen in beyond the Raiders back line, and the Canadian brilliantly kept his cool, shifted the puck several times to commit the netminder and rifled home to make it 3-2. Despite the fightback all then looked to be lost when Romford claimed, what looked to be, a killer fourth just seven seconds from the break. A goalmouth scramble saw Danny Marshall denied at close range before Slovak Juraj Huska tucked the puck away on the powerplay to re-establish the visitors’ two goal cushion.
On the brink of defeat, the Dynamos had it all to do at the start of the final period as they chased the game in a bid to overturn a 4-2 deficit. Early season clashes might have seen the team fall away and fail to take anything from the tie but this was a side determined to continue their recent good form in front of a sizeable home crowd. Their tails were up in the sixth minute when Callum Best found Justin Noble entering the zone on the right side and the Canadian lashed an unstoppable snapshot beyond the reach of Michael Gray from the middle of the right faceoff circle to make it 4-3.
It was then during a spell of 4-on-4, with Anthony Leone penalised for a slash on his former player/coach Danny Marshall and Tom Davis condemned to the penalty box with 2+10 for a nasty check to the head of Joe Bliss, that the hosts equalised to be on level terms for the first time in 30 minutes of play. Callum Best broke into the final third on a 2-on-1 and he centred to the slot where a waiting Callum Fowler dispatched beyond Michael Gray with a one-timer to make it 4-4.
By now the hosts were reinvigorated and favourites to take the lead and, when Billy Phillips picked up his fifth minor penalty of the evening, they made use of the extra skater to light the lamp and secure the narrow edge. Andy Smith’s skate down the left wing was followed by a drop pass to Peter Vaisanen who drove a high slapshot over the reach of Michael Gray and into the near side of the net for the 5-4 advantage. But for the crossbar, that lead could have been instantly wiped out had Frankie Harvey’s wrist shot from between the faceoff circles not found the metal and then bounced the wrong side of the goal line for the Romford forward.
It was not to be the Raiders’ night though and, 25 seconds from time, their defeat was all but confirmed when the Dynamos claimed their sixth of the night to complete the 6-4 victory. A 2-on-1 saw Callum Fowler enter the final third in the left channel and, using Andy Smith as a decoy in the middle, the skater claimed his second of the evening with a venomous wrist shot into the top near corner of the frame to secure the two cup points.
So an outstanding display of grit and determination saw the Dynamos snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and their comeback win against the reigning league champions made it three ‘W’s in a row for the hosts. Whilst attention will now turn to correcting some of the horrors in the opening two periods, the team’s confidence will surely take a boost ahead of next weekend’s double header against Bracknell and Wightlink. Man of the match awards on the night went to Matt Turner of the visitors and Callum Fowler of the Dynamos.
Picture supplied by David Trevallion