It’s advantage to the Invicta Dynamos as they comfortably won the 1st leg of the play-off final against the Chelmsford Chieftains.
Kevin Parrish’s side took to the ice as the underdogs in Gillingham for the first of two games this weekend with the Essex outfit coming to Kent having already won the league and cup.
However, the Dynamos clearly hadn’t read the script and go into Sunday night’s final sixty minutes of ice hockey this season with a five goal cushion.
The game started in lively fashion with the Dynamos almost at full strength, as netminders Damien King (Invicta) and Sonny Phillips (Chelmsford) looked to keep the scoring to a minimum.
There was barely twenty seconds on the clock when the first goal of the game arrived and it went the way of the visitors as Liam Chong was given too much time and space to slam a shot past King.
His resulting celebration knocked the plexi glass out resulting in a delay that seemed to be the wake up call for the Dynamos.
Less than four minutes later and the scores were level when some great one touch ice hockey on a powerplay saw Ashley Jackson and Adam Rehak to combine well to set up Callum Fowler for 1-1.
Three minutes later and Jackson was on the scoresheet himself as Mason Webster teed him up and his shot from an acute angle somehow beat Phillips.
The home fans were on their feet just 21 seconds later as Steve Osman put in all the hard work to allow the in form Scott Bailey to thunder home.
Having called a timeout to stem the flow, Chelmsford clawed their way back into the game and pegged it back to 3-2 on 19:36 as Matt Turner was on hand to make the most of a powerplay for the visitors.
At 3-2 up going into the second period, the Dynamos wanted a fast start and they got just that as there were only 57 seconds played when Rehak robbed Webb before slotting under Phillips.
Less than two minutes later and it was back to 4-3 as Chong’s blue line strike was diverted home by Jake Sylvester.
The visitors thought they’d levelled ninety seconds later, but referee Blaine Evans ruled it out to the protestations of Chieftains import Juraj Huska who picked up a ten minute misconduct penalty.
That proved to be costly as the Dynamos rampaged forward and they were rewarded for their efforts on 29:04.
With netminder Sonny Phillips causing a penalty for pushing his net off, the Dynamos made use of the extra man as Ondrej Zosiak followed up a Fowler shot to make it 5-3.
At 5-3 going into the final twenty minutes, the Dynamos knew they had to be on their guard against a dangerous Chieftains side, but extended their lead further in the 45th minute as Phillips failed to hold a Bailey strike that tamely went beyond him and into the goal.
The Dynamos once again made full use of a powerplay on 48:26 as Rehak battled hard for the puck before slotting it past Phillips who was by this stage becoming a spectator.
The final nail in the coffin came on 53:10 as the Dynamos made it 8-3 Zosiak and Bailey combined well for Osman to cap what was a great night for the Kent side.
Going into Sunday night’s 2nd leg in Chelmsford with an 8-3 advantage will clearly make the Dynamos favourites, but they will know that they’ll have to play to their potential against a Chieftains side that can’t be underestimated.
To listen to our exclusive interview with Callum Fowler from after the game, click here:
