National League: Oxford 2 London Raiders 2

London Raiders twice came from behind to earn a point against play-off chasing rivals Oxford last night.

Buoyed by their 5-3 win over Streatham at Lee Valley on Saturday, Raiders travelled to the university city for the second time in two weeks having suffered an 8-6 loss on their previous visit.

The visitors were without Grant Taylor, Dan Peters and the suspended Ross Wilkinson and fell behind with barely a minute played as Stars import Evan Mackintosh beat James Tanner.

Raiders were soon back on terms, as Jacob Ranson claimed his ninth goal of the season from Liam Chong’s pass.

But Oxford regained the lead in the fourth minute when the puck deflected in off the skate of Alan Green.

The home side could not add to their advantage, despite outshooting Raiders 16-9 in the first session.

And Green was ejected with a 5+game penalty for high sticks early in the middle period after catching Raiders import Jakub Kostelansky and drawing blood.

Raiders could not capitalise on the major powerplay and had to kill off minors against Vaclav Drabek (slashing) and captain Tom Davis (roughing) to remain just one goal adrift.

And they got themselves back on level terms in the 37th minute as Davis converted after good work between Kostelansky and Liam Chong.

The final period was a tense affair, with both sides having late powerplay chances to find a winner.

But it ended all square, with Raiders just edging the shot count 34-31 as they completed a three-point weekend to maintain their hold on eighth place with 14 points.

Raiders now have a blank weekend before they return to action with a trip to Streatham on Sunday February 8.

Scorers, Oxford: Alan Green 1 Evan Mackintosh* 1 Joshua Florey 0+1 James Pentecost 0+1.

Raiders: Tom Davis 1 Jacob Ranson 1 Liam Chong 0+2 Jakub Kostelanksy* 0+1.

Penalty minutes: Oxford 33 Raiders 8.

Shots on goal: James Skaife (Oxford) 34, James Tanner (Raiders) 31.