The Invicta Dynamos saw their positive start to 2013/14 hit the wall on Saturday evening as they lost 5-2 in a penalty strewn encounter on their first visit to Lee Valley to play the London Raiders despite goals from Juraj Huska and Shaun Wild.

Travelling without the injured Nicky Lewis and Daniel Fudger, the Dynamos might have still fancied their chances against a London outfit they had already overcome 3-2 in Gillingham just 6 days before.

That fixture witnessed intense physical play and occasional glimpses of attacking brilliance but both were largely missing in this second clash with neither team reaching their full potential.

Nevertheless the Raiders had the better of the opening frame – out shooting their opponents by 15 to 8 – and were on the board first – Billy Phillips showing his potency from the blue line with assists coming from Danny Marshall and Andrius Kaminskas.

Just as it looked like that narrow edge would then hold until the buzzer, the Dynamos tallied a leveller at 19.22 – Juraj Huska claiming his first for the Mos against his former side by rifling beyond Euan King shorthanded whilst Daniel Hammond sat a hooking minor.

With the score level at 1-1 going into the second, neither club were really able to get going in the middle period as referees Matt Thompson and Roman Szucs kept themselves busy. 6 minors fell the way of the London Raiders over the 20 minute spell whilst the visitors also had a man in the box on 4 occasions.

As a result there was little in the way of goalmouth action – each side managing just 9 attempts during the frame with the hosts the only ones to light the lamp. It took until 36.47 for the home side to grab the go-ahead goal – JJ Pitchley claiming his second against the Dynamos in two outings as he buried the puck beyond the reach of Chris Douglas following help from Nathan Pollard.

The strike came shorthanded with Pitchley finding the net whilst teammate Andrius Kaminskas sat an illegal equipment minor.

London’s late second period goal gave them a slender 2-1 advantage going into the last but the Dynamos threatened a turnaround at 43.51 when Shaun Wild opened his account for the club – his effort finding a way beyond Euan King on the powerplay with Jakub Klima and Callum Fowler involved in the build-up.

A succession of penalties would thwart those ambitions though as, with Arran Strawson taking a seat for cross checking, the Raiders re-established their lead. Billy Phillips and Danny Marshall each claimed a point when Lithuanian Andrius Kaminskas beat Chris Douglas to separate the two sides at 3-2.

Come 53.26 the visitors where then facing an uphill battle as Shaun Yardley added his name to the list of goal scorers for the hosts – his effort courtesy of work by Grant Taylor and Tom Davis and giving Lee Valley Ice Rink’s new inhabitants a two goal cushion.

When minors then saw both Alan Lack and Callum Fowler make their way to the box soon after, the points were all but sealed as the Raiders made good use of the 5-on-3 – Billy Phillips teeing up Frankie Harvey to complete the 5-2 win.

So it was disappointment for the Dynamos who will have been discouraged by both the result and a below par performance. A total of 74 penalty minutes in a largely trouble free game may have had a negative effect on any attempts to play free flowing hockey but ultimately the league table will already show a defeat on the board for the Gillingham side.

Man of the match awards in a game that was far from pretty for spectators went to Nathan Pollard of the London Raiders whilst Shaun Wild took the spoils for the visitors.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion.