Fowler double not enough to stop Streatham win

Nov 13, 2017 | All News, Results

result16_streatham_121117A Callum Fowler double was not enough to prevent the Invicta Dynamos falling to a 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Streatham on Sunday night in what was already a ‘dead rubber’ clash for the Gillingham team in the NIHL Cup.

Having already failed to progress in the NIHL Cup, the Dynamos took to the ice for the dead rubber with just pride to play for but without the services of the injured Mason Webster and Harrison Lillis, whilst import Adam Rehak and forwards Tom Long and Justin Robinson were also absent.

So short on numbers, the odds were always going to be up against the hosts as they faced a Streatham side that were only missing Ryan Watt and Brett Shepherd from their roster. There were just 33 seconds on the clock when the Redhawks then opened the scoring – Michael Farn firing home past Damien King.

Try as they might to get back into the game, the Dynamos just couldn’t beat Gregory in the Streatham goal and fell further behind in the 15th minute – Ryan Webb’s shot squeezed past King to the dismay of the home support.

Just over a minute later and it was 3-0 to Streatham as some poor Dynamos defending led to Aidan Doughty scoring. There was a glimmer of hope for the Dynamos as the ever hard working Callum Fowler scored from an acute angle in the 19th minute.

Already under-strength, the Dynamos probably could have done without defenceman Tommy Ralph picking up a ten minute misconduct penalty early in the second period. End to end action failed to yield a goal in the twenty minutes, although there was a flashpoint with the unlikely pair of Ashley Jackson and Jacob Ranson coming too close for comfort.

At 3-1 going into the final frame, the visitors showed their numerical strength and with fresher legs, they extended their lead further with Jamie Hayes scoring unassisted in the 46th minute. Moments later and another flashpoint in front of the Dynamos bench saw Seb Downing trying to defend himself as a number of Streatham players looked to land blows in the diminutive Mo.

Another scrap saw Ranson and Scott Bailey come to blows with the former ejected from the game to the jeers of the home support. There was just enough time in the game left for the Dynamos to peg it back to 4-2 as Fowler grabbed his second of the night tipping home a Bailey shot.

In the end, the scoreline was just about right and the Dynamos will undoubtedly spend the week looking at rebuilding their number ahead of Bracknell Bees visit for the league clash on Saturday night before heading to Streatham 24 hours later for another cup game.

Written by Steve Wolfe.