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Crunch time for Kent's ice men

IT'S the weekend of reckoning for the Medway-based ice hockey team Invicta Dynamos. By Sunday evening the Mos could be English National Premier League champions for the first time and safely through to the semi-finals of the League Cup.

Only Haringey Greyhounds and Romford Raiders stand in the way of this prestigious double.

Dynamos team manager, Andy Mason, said: "It's an exciting time and expectations are high. I know the fans are looking forward to going to Haringey on Saturday as we are taking a good crowd and there will be a carnival atmosphere.

"The players have a job to do but we must make sure we do it sensibly as we don't want to pick up any stupid penalties or injuries going into the Romford game. We'll be ecstatic if we do win the league but celebrations will be put on hold because the cup game is also important."

A win at Alexandra Palace will give Invicta an unassailable lead. Player coach Andy Hannah says it's the day the team has been waiting for a long time. He stressed: "This should be quite straight-forward as we have beaten them comfortably four times already this season, but there will be a lot of pressure on this game because we know what's at stake."

Haringey will be without inspirational netminder Tom Willis who faced 52 shots against the Mos last time around and only let in six. Instead the Hounds will be hoping the red tape is cut in time for Perry Williams to take his place between the pipes otherwise they'll be gambling on Nathan Lawrence, who has the worst stats in the league.

Williams, who has been playing for Red Star Belgrade, was not allowed to play last weekend as the league said his paperwork was received after the transfer deadline. The club is disputing this and he was allowed to dress for the warm up where he impressed.

Lawrence, on the other hand had a nightmare, conceding nine goals in the first nine minutes and going on to let in another six as the Greyhounds lost 15-2 to Solihull.

Last weekend Romford eased to a 9-3 victory over Swindon and are now assured of a cup semi-final place. A win or draw against the Mos will guarantee them top spot in Group B and a probable match up with Nottingham Lions from Group A. Dynamos need a win to qualify, or the runner-up spot goes to Isle of Wight. Two weeks ago the Mos went to Rom Valley Way and beat the Raiders 4-1.

Invicta got a look at new import Chad Brandimore but their other recent signing Jason Rushton was again suspended taking the competitive 27-year-old's career tally to 1,563 minutes in the lonely box.

Romford ice Brandimore on a line with Danny Marshall and Timo Kauhanen and the trio's growing understanding is evident. With Marshall topping the British scoring charts, Rushton finding the net regularly and James Duval playing out of his skin Romford cannot be taken lightly.

Hannah said: "We only got a quick look at Rushton in the league game we played in December before he got chucked out of the game. The guy seems to have trouble with discipline.

"However, they have some good hockey players, especially Marshall, who work hard, have natural talent and know how to score.

"But we always play well against Romford. We save our best for them and this game will be no different."

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