A trio from Justin Noble and a strike from Harrison Lillis were not enough to prevent the Invicta Dynamos succumbing to an 8-4 road defeat at the hands of the Streatham Redskins on Sunday as the Londoners powered to victory largely thanks to import Jakub Klima.

The Dynamos made the short trip to Brixton minus Adam Copland, Anthony Leone and Callum Fowler but the game still looked to be going in their favour early on as they broke the deadlock in the tenth minute. Nathaniel Rose’s cross-ice pass found Harrison Lillis in the left channel and the young forward fired a wrist shot beyond goalie Will Sanderson from a tight angle to make it 1-0. The lead would last a mere 23 seconds though as ‘import’ Jakub Klima entered the final third and lashed an effort beyond the unsighted David Wride to put Streatham back on level terms. Six minutes later, the Czech forward then played a hand in the Redskins’ second of the evening – teeing up captain Joe Johnston who calmly slotted home for the 2-1 edge. By now the Brixton based outfit were in the ascendency and they ended the frame with a third to assert their dominance. Dominic Hopkins’ breakout pass sent Jakub Klima in all alone and the lethal forward skated around the dive of David Wride and fired in to make it 3-1 come the buzzer.

In the second period the Dynamos set about finding a way back into the tie but netminder Will Sanderson kept them at bay early on. His saves would prove important as his side then claimed their fourth for the three goal cushion. Jakub Klima skilfully controlled Casimir Madren-Britton’s fired pass, by beating the puck down to the ice, before skating in on net and driving into the top left corner to complete his hat-trick. A charging minor to Joe Allen then allowed Justin Noble to bring the Dynamos back into contention, as he tucked under Will Sanderson on the breakaway, but the skater made amends by cancelling out the Canadian’s effort whilst Noble and Tim Smith were watching from the penalty box to make it 5-2. A hooking call on Streatham’s Stewart Tait then suggested the goal trading would continue but, despite being a man up, the visitors let slip their sixth of the evening. Again Czech forward Jakub Klima did the damage as he left three defencemen standing before beating David Wride from close range to put the Redskins 6-2 to the good. The import’s fourth of the night was enough to prompt a netminder change for the Dynamos and Glen Jackson came on to see out the remainder of the tie. His first action was then to watch his side cut the deficit to three as Justin Noble outpaced the Streatham rear guard before swinging in from the right wing and dispatching beyond Will Sanderson to make it 6-3. Unfortunately, Jackson’s second action then ended with him removing the puck from his net as he spilt a Liam Rasmussen effort into the path of a grateful Evander Grinnell who prodded over the line for the 7-3 lead come the break.

Now trailing by four, the Dynamos needed a big last period but, despite a string of powerplays, they were unable to make the extra man count and failed to put the puck beyond netminder Will Sanderson early on. When the visitors were about to hit penalty trouble of their own midway through, the Redskins then rubbed salt into the wounds by notching their eighth of the night – Joe Johnston doubling up by picking his spot beyond Glen Jackson to make it 8-3. With the contest now all but over, all that remained was for tempers to flare with a questionable Stewart Tait hit on Justin Noble providing the catalyst for a bench clearance. Jack Tarczycki would challenge Tait whilst the Redskins’ Jamie McIlroy intervened by ditching the gloves. On his way from the ice, McIlroy was then invited to dance by Grant Baxter whilst Phil Manny and Tim Smith also tussled and Nathaniel Rose and Stewart Tait each exchanged blows. In the aftermath Manny and Tait were dispatched from the game for Streatham whilst the Dynamos lost Baxter, Rose and Tarczycki for the remainder of the encounter. When the action finally restarted the visitors then claimed a late consolation courtesy of Justin Noble as the Canadian completed his hat-trick with a neat move in front of net that fooled Will Sanderson and ended with the puck over the line to make it 8-4.

So it was ultimately major disappointment for the Dynamos in Brixton as they underwhelmed and found themselves at the mercy of a Streatham side desperate to impress in front of their biggest home crowd of the season. Despite having conceded a hat-trick to import Jakub Klima in Gillingham, the visiting defence failed to learn their lesson as the Czech star claimed another four and was the key man in the Redskins’ deserved victory. Meanwhile Justin Noble’s hat-trick was the only highlight of a torrid night for the Dynamos with the Canadian’s trio securing him man of the match honours for the away side. Jakub Klima would take the beers for the hosts.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion