Invicta Dynamos fought out a well earnt 4-4 draw despite being 3-1 down going into the last period against the Wightlink Raiders on Sunday night.

With the game being staged at Gosport due to Wightlink’s own rink being shut for roof repairs the game didn’t start until 7:15pm owing to a delay with a previous game on the ice.

Invicta travelled to the south coast without the services of key forwards Callum Fowler and Nicky Lewis whilst Steve Nightingale, Grant Baxter and the two Wootton twins were also unable to play.

Jacob Ranson had the earliest opportunity on the small Gosport ice pad, firing wide after good build-up play by teammate Eriks Ozollapa. That early chance sprung Wightlink into attack, at one stage breaking 3 on 1 with Arran Strawson the only Invicta defender in the way – but the experienced d-man read the situation to win possession back. A few minutes later, Ryan Webb tested netminder Damien King but was unable to beat the Dynamo man.

Arran Strawson opened the scoring for Invicta just before the ten minute mark. The ex-Wightlink player, who got thrown out the game last week against Wightlink converted a Steve Osman pass on a powerplay after Wightlink’s Ben Paynter was sent to the penalty box, Jacob Ranson collecting the second assist. Just when it looked like Invicta would hold the lead to the end of the first period, a penalty on Josh Condren for interference was punished further by Nick Compton who smashed the equalising goal past Damien King for 1-1 at the end of period one.

Within two minutes of the restart Wightlink took the lead through Corey Watkins who beat Damien King at the far post from a Daniel Rose pass. A five minute attacking spell from Invicta found opportunities for Strawson, Osman, Zosiak and Ranson but Matt Colclough held firm in the Wightlink net. With play switching to the other end Damien King pulled-off a superb double save, only to be beaten at a third attempt by Ryan Webb on 26:31 for a 3-1 lead in favour of the host team. Further pain was inflicted on Invicta on 33 minutes, Steve Osman getting chucked out of the game for a high stick on Ryan Webb, which resulted in a cut chin for his opponent.

Knowing the next goal would be vital, Invicta made the breakthrough early in the third period through Eriks Ozollapa who scored on 42:52 to make it 3-2 and the busy Jacob Ranson claiming another assist. With Wightlink heads looking concerned, birthday boy Josh Condren then found an equaliser for Invicta on 47:04, scoring amongst a crowd of players after being found by Ozollapa.

Danny Ingoldsby was penalised on 49:27 for high sticking, and with Invicta on top the away side took a dramatic 4-3 lead on 51:08, Ozollapa beating Colclough from the right post and celebrating in his usual style. Having thrown away a 3-1 lead, home coach Jeremy Cornish called a timeout to rally his troops and whatever he said paid-off with Jaroslav Cesky breaking Invicta’s hearts with the last goal of the game to settle the score at 4-4.