An emphatic 9-3 road defeat at the hands of the Romford Raiders on Saturday evening all but ended the Dynamos’ NIHL Southern Cup campaign as the Essex outfit seized the initiative despite goals from Andy Smith (2) and Justin Noble.
In the opening frame the visitors struggled to get going and they paid the price just seven minutes in as the Raiders struck to break the deadlock. Lethal Slovak Juraj Huska was the man to beat David Wride with Danny Marshall and Julian Smith both claiming assists.
The hosts would then add to their lead just ten seconds before the buzzer as penalty trouble saw the Dynamos go down a man. Romford captain Smith was again involved in the build-up play – this time teeing up namesake AJ who fired in to seal a two goal cushion ahead of the buzzer.
Having shipped two goals in the opening twenty minutes, the Dynamos conceded another pair in half that time at the start of the second to give themselves an uphill battle. Juraj Huska made it 3-0 within 28 seconds of the restart before Matt Turner added his name to the growing list of scorers with his first of the night to take that lead to four. Between the two strikes tensions had flared as boisterous Romford import Andrius Kaminskas and volatile Dynamos forward Nathaniel Rose ditched the gloves – the two wrestling briefly before hitting the ice with the visitors’ man on top.
That would be the last involvement for both combatants with the pair picking up enough penalties to remove them from the tie and the second meeting in Gillingham the following night.
When play finally restarted the away side then broke their duck as Justin Noble got them off of the mark, following work from Tyrone Miller, but the Canadian’s effort was to be cancelled out before the break as the Raiders claimed their fifth. Not content with one goal, AJ Smith took his personal tally to two as he rifled beyond David Wride to make it 5-1 with forty minutes played.
In the final frame Romford continued to dominate and their accurate finishing ensured that level of control was visible on the scoreboard. Once again they struck swiftly after the restart – the Dynamos’ minds seemingly still in the changing room when Juraj Huska completed his hat-trick just 16 seconds after the puck drop to make it 6-1.
His team’s tally would then soon become seven when Matt Turner also beat David Wride – the forward’s second of the evening coming just two minutes later. In danger of falling out of sight, the Dynamos cut into the deficit soon after – Andy Smith benefiting from work by Justin Noble and Jack Tarczycki to open his account – but the Raiders were seeking an emphatic victory and quickly cancelled out the visiting captain’s reply as AJ Smith struck for the third time to complete a hat-trick.
Having now seen two of his teammates scoop their third goals, Matt Turner then completed the hat-trick of hat-tricks for Romford as he too took his tally to three by driving beyond a beleaguered David Wride for the 9-2 score line. Though Andy Smith managed a third for the Dynamos late on, the visitors were condemned to a miserable 9-3 loss – their biggest defeat of the 2012/13 campaign.
So it was to be a miserable away day for the Dynamos in Romford but a poor performance from the side warranted little more at the home of the reining league champions. With a win, draw or even a narrow defeat granting passage to the cup final, Head Coach Kevin Parrish will have been disappointed with how easily his side coughed up the points but attention swiftly turned to the rematch in the league in Gillingham the following night. Man of the match awards went to AJ Smith of the hosts whilst Justin Noble took it for the Dynamos.
Picture supplied by David Trevallion