Andy Smith was the hat-trick hero on Saturday evening as his three goals, alongside a pair from Canadian Ryan Ellis and efforts from Adam Copland, Peter Beerling and Daniel Fudger, saw the Invicta Dynamos overcome the Wightlink Raiders 8-4 in the ENIHL Southern Cup.

In the opening frame the home side were rampant in Gillingham as they raced into a commanding 5-0 lead come the close of the first period. Blue liner Peter Beerling celebrated his permanent move to the Dynamos with his second goal in as many games, to put the team in front with just 50 seconds gone, and captain Andy Smith doubled that edge eight minutes in as he fired beyond netminder Liam McAllister.

Midway through, ‘import’ Ryan Ellis then notched a third for the hosts, whilst the Raiders’ Stuart Tait sat in the box for tripping, before Smith doubled his tally for the evening with an unassisted strike to make it 4-0.

With Alex Murray then penalised for checking from behind, the home side seized the advantage of an extra skater to put away their fifth, with Adam Copland driving in from deep for the five goal cushion.

In the second frame the Dynamos continued to prove the more clinical in front of net and Raiders’ goalie Liam McAllister would ship one more from 13 efforts on his target. Less than a minute from the buzzer, Daniel Fudger added his name to the score sheet, having combined with Ryan Ellis to unlock the visitors’ defence, before drilling beyond the reach of the netminder for his third of the season.

6-0 at the start of the last period quickly became seven following the puck drop as Andy Smith completed his hat-trick five minutes after the restart to give the hosts an insurmountable lead. The Dynamos were then guilty of easing off allowing the visitors to break their duck in search of a way back into the tie. Stephen Gosset got them off of the mark before Alex Murray added a second to quickly cut the deficit to 7-2.

A powerplay strike from Ryan Ellis saw the hosts answer but the Raiders continued to enjoy the better of the closing stages as they notched a double in the final moments. Canadian Joe Rand hit back to make it 8-3 before blue liner Daniel Pye brought the evening to a close with an effort beyond Andy Moffat with just 17 seconds remaining. Regardless of the mini-revival though, it was a comfortable win for the Dynamos and their first in the ENIHL Southern Cup in 2011/12.

So the wave of positivity sweeping through the club only gained pace on Saturday as the home side easily dispatched the current league champions in Gillingham. Man of the match awards on the night went to Stephen Gosset of the Raiders whilst an inspired performance from Canadian Ryan Ellis, that saw him nab two goals and four assists, saw him take the honours for the hosts.

From here the team will now look to keep their good form going as they travel to Oxford to face the Stars on Sunday with faceoff at 6.15pm.