The Invicta Dynamos recorded their first victory of the season on the road at Milton Keynes Thunder to the delight of their faithful fans.
Invicta’ Coach Kevin Parrish was able to recall Ryan Giles and Joe Allen from the side that lost to the Peterborough Phantoms the night before but was once again without netminder Conor Morris whilst Owen Dell was also missing. New signing Lewis English faced his former side.
The 1st period was a bright affair with both teams surging forward as soon as they took possession of the puck. Louis Colvin worked Thunder’ netminder Jordan Lawday early into the game when he raced onto a pass from Matt Foord but the home netminder knocked the incoming shot wide. The Mos took the lead on 6:05 when Callum Best weaved through a few challenges before passing to Lewis English who quickly tapped the puck to Ondrej Zosiak to hammer past Jordan Lawday for 1-0 to the Kent side.
The Dynamos were soon on a powerplay with Rio Grinnell-Parke sitting a 2 minute penalty for high sticks but despite efforts from Callum Best and Lewis English the Thunder successfully killed the penalty. Disaster struck for Andy Munroe on 8:32 when he miss-hit a pass which fell the way of Samuel Talbot to beat Adam Long in the Dynamos’ net for 1-1. The Thunder then took the lead on 13:05 with Tomas Rubes cutting-in from the right flank to unleash a shot beyond Adam Long for 2-1. Long then pulled out a brilliant close range save on the 15 minute mark to keep the Mos within a goal difference which proved vital as they soon equalised for 2-2 on 15:53 – Ondrej Zosiak slapping a shot from the blue line which Lewis English tipped past Jordan Lawday to claim his first career goal for the Dynamos.
The 2nd period had the Thunder on a powerplay early on when Louis Colvin was penalised for slashing on 21:45. The Mos successfully defended the penalty to keep the scoreline level. Adam Long the made a point blank save from Tomas Rubes with the Thunder’ forward looking certain to bulge the net. Chances were made by the way of hard work in this period for the Mos and Jake Stedman did well to create an opportunity for himself on 31:33 but his attempt was gobbled-up by Jordan Lawday.
The Mos were defending another powerplay on 31:58 with Harrison Lillis slashing an opponent but once again the Mos stood firm to kill the two penalty minutes. Rio Grinnell-Parke had an attempt at the near post saved by Adam Long with the period drawing to a close. But before the buzzer ended the 2nd period Oliver Stone threw a slash which put the Mos on a powerplay for the remaining 33 seconds of the frame but the Thunder kept the Kent side at bay to go into the interval at 2-2.
The final period started with the Mos trying to take advantage of the remaining powerplay time but they were unsuccessful in gaining the lead once more. They did create a great chance soon after the Thunder returned to full strength when Brandon Miles skated down the right flank and cut a pass across the Thunder’ goalmouth but despite getting his stick onto the puck, the connection from Anthony Leone wasn’t enough to convert beyond Jordan Lawday. Louis Colvin then teed-up Callum Best who shot wide when he should have done better. The Mos were then on the back foot with Joe Allen giving away a powerplay after he threw a late hit. Tomas Rubes tested Long during the two minute penalty but that was pretty much as good as it got for the hosts during that spell.
Once the Mos were back to full strength they were tested by attempts from both Rio Grinell-Parke and Trevor Leblanc but they survived everything that was being thrown at them. Then – the Mos put themselves in front once more with Harrison Lillis feeding Jake Stedman who roofed a brilliant shot into the top corner of Jordan Lawday’s net for 3-2 on 54:46. Nerves were now starting to kick-in for both the Dynamos’ players and fans and they once again had to dig in deep when Harrison Lillis was penalised for hooking giving the Thunder one more powerplay. Try as they did, the Thunder couldn’t get past a determined Dynamos’ unit and at long last the Kent side recorded their first victory of the season.
Referee: B. Evans Linesmen: O. Finch, A. Strain
Points:
Thunder: R. Bowers 0+1, S. Talbot 1+0, G. O’Flaherty 0+1, T. Rubes 1+0
Dynamos: O. Zosiak 1+1, C. Best 0+1, J. Allen 0+1, L. English 1+1, J. Stedman 1+0, H. Lillis 0+1
Netminders:
- Lawday save percentage – 90.91% (33 shots/3 goals)
- Long save percentage – 95.56% (45 shots/2 goals)
PIMS:
Thunder – 4
Dynamos – 8
Man of the match:
Thunder – T. Rubes
Dynamos – H. Lillis
Picture supplied by Nicola Allen.