Lee Valley Lions picked up their first point of the season as they suffered a 4-3 defeat in over-time against Invicta Mustangs.

The Lions went into the contest having lost all nine of their matches and extended that to 11 games without a win as they were brought back down to earth the following as they lost 11-1 to high-flying Bristol Pitbulls.

George Alley’s men handed debuts to defencemen Ashley Earle and Arran Hartley for their trip to Gillingham, but were without James Joseph, Robyn Maby, Lee Hounslow, Jordan Turner and Michael Crosse.

They got off to a slow start and found themselves 1-0 down after the first period thanks to a goal from Jake Steadman.

The score remained 1-0 until the third and final stanza, which became a goal affair, as Lee Valley brought it back to level terms thanks to Chris Fox.

Mustangs soon broke away again as James Laming and Steadman both netted to make it 3-1.

Alley’s side fought back and Matt Hepburn equalised with seven minutes left in the period, before captain Nick Alley scored with seven seconds left in the match to earn his side a point, but Steadman halted their dreams of a first victory as he rounded off his hat-trick to win the match in over-time.

The following night spelled disaster for the Lions as they suffered a heavy defeat on home ice to continue their miserable start to the season.

The Lions found themselves 3-0 down at the end of the first period and the second started in the same style as Bristol netted 21 seconds in.

The hosts had a glimpse of hope as Simon Geldart fired his shot home to make it 4-1, but the visitors soon returned to dominance, which saw them take an 8-1 lead into the final period.

The Pitbulls slotted home another three goals to seal the two points at Lee Valley.