Kevin Parrish’s Invicta Dynamos overcame a defiant Milton Keynes Thunder to set-up what should be a thrilling play-off semi-final against Streatham next weekend.

The Mo’s travelled without injured captain Callum Fowler who joined all three Wootton’s, Adam McNicoll and James Richardson on the “not icing” list.

Having brought a 3-1 lead into the second leg the Dynamos started the brighter of the two sides, home netminder David Wride saving from Tommy Ralph and Nicky Lewis early into the game. The in-form Scott Bailey continued where he left off the previous night by opening the scoring in the 8th minute – The Thunder were trying to kill a 5 on 3 powerplay following penalties against Hallden Barnes-Garner and Greg Randall but Tommy Ralph’s shot from distance was deflected beyond Wride by Scott Bailey to give the Mo’s a 1-0 lead and Bailey’s third goal in two games.

MK’s Simon Howard (who retired after the game) was the next Thunder player in the penalty box for a slash on Nicky Lewis which gave the Mo’s another powerplay advantage – which again was taken full advantage of courtesy of a goal from Adam Rehak who shot from the left attacking face-off circle through a crowd of bodies for 2-0 to the Mo’s on 11:08 – Ashley Jackson claiming the assist. With a four goal aggregate cushion the Mo’s were starting to look comfortable but once Brad Gutridge gave away a slashing penalty it gave the Thunder a light of hope – and Jamie Line duly punished the Mo’s by pulling a goal back after slotting beyond Damien King for 1-2 on the night and to leave the first period ending 5-2 on aggregate in favour of the away side.

The second period was a big one for MK Thunder to try and win but it was the Mo’s who started the better with Adam Rehak scoring on 25:31 for a 3-1 lead assisted by Ashley Jackson and Mason Webster. Five minutes later a bizarre blunder by Nidal Phillips let in Rehak for his hat-trick in the 30th minute for 4-1, Rehak dekeing Wride to turn the netminder inside out before tapping into an empty net. MK forward Alex Whyte sneaked past his marker in the 37th minute to tap past Damien King for 4-2 – only for Rehak to grab his 4th goal of the evening on when Rehak latched onto another loose puck to deke Wride again and tap into an empty net for a shorthanded goal after Jarvis Mewett had earlier tripped Jamie Line when the Thunder looked to breakaway. By the end of the period the Mo’s were leading 2-5 on the night and 3-8 on aggregate.

The final frame the home side threw everything they could at the Mo’s backline and with the Dynamos defending an Arran Strawson holding penalty they couldn’t keep Jakub Klima from scoring a soft goal in the 41st minute to bring the evening score back to 3-5. A couple of minutes later Luke Reynolds and Jamie Line combined to find Ross Bowers in space for the forward to fire beyond King  for 4-5. The Thunder continued to press and Damien King was on alert to deny Jamie Line and Tom Mboya but his resolve was beaten in the 52nd minute when Bowers grabbed his second of the night unassisted to bring the scoreline back to 5-5 (6-8 on aggregate in favour of the Mo’s). Throwing everything including the kitchen sink was not enough through as the Mo’s broke up the other end to grab a late winner in the 59th minute through Ashley Jackson on a powerplay, Steve Osman and Mason Webster assisting. Webster was to see more action 4 seconds to the end, roughing with Simon Howard who went into a late challenge on Damien King to create a bunching of players.

So it was the Mo’s who came away with a 6-5 win and aggregate victory of 9-6. Man of the match awards went to the Mo’s Scott Bailey and the Thunder’s Simon Howard.