Captain reflects on victory at Solent

London Raiders captain AJ Smith was delighted to see his side get quickly back to National League winning ways at the weekend.

Smith netted twice in a 4-1 victory at Solent, following a late 6-5 home loss to Bracknell a week earlier.

And he said it was vital to rally from that setback on the south coast, saying: “It was a great win for the team and a great team performance.

“It was so important to get the two points after the disappointment of last weekend’s loss to Bracknell.

“I said last week that we needed to bounce back immediately and that’s exactly what we did.”

Smith had complained about the ‘horrible’ nature of Solent’s tiny rink in the build-up to the clash, but his side adapted well to the smaller dimenions.

Czech imports Jakub Klima (shorthanded) and Vaclav Drabek (empty net) joined him on the scoresheet, while goalie Michael Gray returned from suspension and produced a man of the match display, making 62 saves in total.

Smith added: “Gosport is never an easy place to go or an easy team to play, but we put in a good showing and were worthy winners.

“It was great to have P-head (Gray) back in net after his suspension and he had an incredible game making over 60 saves and well earned his man of the match.

“I felt during the game that we have really started to click as a team now, both on and off the ice, which is a great thing considering how many new players we have to this year.

“We are only going to get stronger as we move forward and we still have Frankie Harvey to come back.”