Head Coach Kevin Parrish wants his Invicta Dynamos side to book a place in the NIHL Southern Cup final against Wightlink Raiders this weekend.

The Kent side head to the Isle of Wight on Saturday night for the first leg of the semi-final before returning to Kent on Sunday evening looking to secure their place in the showpiece final.

Wightlink Raiders go into the tie with problems off the ice with their rink facing the risk of closure at the end of the season, but Parrish said he will have little sympathy for their opponents before the games, but will happily sign a petition to keep the rink open once the games are over:

“There’s no sympathy whatsoever. I wish them all the best and I don’t want to see another team go out of the league and I don’t want to see another rink in this country shutting, we should be getting more rinks, not shutting them.”

“Hopefully they can resolve what they are doing down there and Steve’s doing a massive job down there to try and keep it open, but I couldn’t care less when the puck drops on Saturday and Sunday as we want to beat them.”

“They are in black, we are in white, we will be in blue and they will be in white and we want to beat them, it’s as simple as that.”

“After the game I will sign any petitions they want me to sign and I will sign it as many times as they want me to sign it to keep the rink open, but we need to get to a final.”

There has been little love lost between the two sides this season with a brawl erupting in the league match that the Dynamos won 3-1 before Christmas, but a more sedate affair saw the Kent club come out victorious (5-1) once again when the two teams met in Gillingham last month.

Wightlink will prove to be a stern test at their home rink on Saturday having won the opening league encounter of the season 8-7 back in September, but with the recent form the Dynamos have shown, a place in the final has to be a realistic ambition.

Face off at the Gillingham Rink is 5:15pm on Sunday evening with a big crowd expected for what could be an entertaining clash.

Pictures supplied by David Trevallion.