Richard Bentham’s first goal for the Invicta Dynamos, alongside efforts from Justin Noble (2), Ryan Ellis, Andy Smith and Corey Watkins, saw the club return to winning ways on Sunday as they downed the Wightlink Raiders 6-5 during a thriller in Gillingham.

In the first period the hosts were off to a flyer as Corey Watkins roofed the puck beyond goalie Liam McAllister to put them 1-0 up and they doubled their lead midway through when Andy Smith finished from left of the target. Their advantage was halved by the break however when, with his side on the powerplay, Damon Larter fired beyond Andy Moffat from back on the blue line to make it 2-1 come the buzzer.

In the second period the visitors then pulled level as Corey Watkins brought down Nathan Taylor on the breakaway and Taylor coolly dispatched the penalty shot beyond the opposing netminder to tie it up at 2-2.

In a frantic final frame the teams then traded another seven goals as both went in search of the invaluable two league points. Damon Larter looked to have set the visitors on their way when he bundled in following a goalmouth scramble but Ryan Ellis’ solo strike restored parity at 3-3 as he rifled beyond Liam McAllister with a slapshot from the edge of the offensive zone.

The Raiders were then quickly back in front when Dominic Hopkins saw his drive from deep deflect en route to goal and slip beyond Andy Moffat but Canadian Justin Noble cancelled out his effort with a fine strike from an acute angle just right of the target.

Noble then doubled his tally to put the Dynamos 5-4 up as he turned on the spot between the faceoff circles before firing under Liam McAllister and Richard Bentham sealed the win with a low drive from deep that slipped inside the near post for the two goal cushion. Though Joe Rand pulled one back to leave the Raiders trailing by just one late on, the visitors were unable to find a sixth and slipped to their second defeat of the weekend with the Dynamos securing the points.

So it was thriller in Kent and an outcome that will do much to boost the morale of the squad after last weekend’s disappointment in Chelmsford. Andy Smith took the man of the match award for the hosts whilst two goal forward Damon Larter secured the same for the visitors. From here the team now prepare for another tough encounter as they host rivals Romford on Sunday in their first ENIHL Cup outing with faceoff at 5.15pm.