Streatham ended 2012 with a disappointing 8-2 loss in Gillingham against the Invicta Dynamos.
Lining up against former defenseman Tyrone Miller, who had switched to the Kent club just days earlier after his release from the Redskins roster, Streatham took a pretty much full strength squad to the game with only Eddie Temple missing.
Despite a good opening the Redskins found themselves a goal behind after only three minutes as a long cross ice pass from Andy Smith allowed Callum Fowler to drive wide round the Redskins defence and deke Will Sanderson in the Streatham goal.
A minute later it was 2-0 to Invicta as Justin Noble’s inch perfect pass found the on skating Callum Best and he fired into the back of the net.
It was a poor spell from the Redskins but they regained some composure and carved out a couple of chances of their own as Dom Hopkins fired in a slapshot from the blue that Mo’s goalie David Wride gathered and then Chris Rasmussen broke free only to see his shot saved from close range by Wride again.
The Dynamos made it three with a shorthanded effort, when a Streatham breakout on the powerplay went badly wrong and the Dynamos all-time leading scorer Andy Smith skated in unopposed before rounding Sanderson and scoring.
To their credit Streatham kept plugging away and it was former Invicta man Joe Johnston who finished from an acute angle into the roof of the net after Wride had stopped a Stevie Balmer shot from the slot.
At 3-1 down Streatham started the second much brighter however the Mo’s defence stood firm with only a rare breakaway from Evander Grinnell giving Wride something to deal with in the opening stages.
Peter Vaisanen made it 4-1 to the home side as he tapped home a Tim Smith effort on the powerplay, to finally beat Sanderson who had made a string of quality saves. Streatham were given another blow as pacy winger Joe Allen was forced to return to the locker room after heavy vomiting.
The second period was a rather scrappy affair however the action in the third made up for it.
It started badly for the Redskins and then got considerably worse as time ticked on. A lapse in concentration allowed Anthony Leone to set up Justin Noble to score and give Invicta a seemingly decisive 5-1 lead.
Streatham hit back straight away after an error in the Dynamos defence breaking out of the zone was picked up by Jamie McIlroy and he skated down on goal before shooting the puck between Wride’s legs and into the goal.
At 5-2 the Redskins looked like they might launch a comeback however this was deflated minutes later as a melee in front of the Streatham goal saw a scuffle break out and then to everyone’s surprise referee Matt Thompson emerged holding Redskins defenseman Shaun Smith and promptly ejected him for attempted head butting whilst Dynamos players Tim Smith and Peter Vaisanen were both given roughing penalties.
Following this incident Invicta turned the screw with Fowler stepping up to the plate and causing chaos in the Redskins defensive zone. The former Peterborough man scored two goals in the space of nine minutes to make it 7-2 and then Joe Bliss guided a Nicky Lewis pass home with five minutes to go, to leave the game with an 8-2 score line.
Man of the match for Streatham went to Jamie McIlroy.
