London derby delight for Lee Valley Lions
Lee Valley Lions celebrate a goal (pic Phil Hutchinson) - Credit: Archant
Haringey Racers 4 Lee Valley Lions 6
Lee Valley Lions earned the bragging rights against London rivals Haringey in their National League Two South East clash at Alexandra Palace.
Ross Sin-Hidge fired a hat-trick for the visitors, while captain Nick Alley netted twice and James Hepburn was also on target in a memorable triumph.
And victory allowed Lions to leapfrog over Invicta Mustangs into fourth place in the six-team group, with one game left to play at Slough on April 8.
Lions fell behind inside five minutes as Dan Clayton gave the home side the lead, but Hepburn hit back soon after to level and Alley put his side in front in the 12th minute.
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Alley added his second just past the midway mark to make it 3-1, but Matt Brown replied just 43 seconds later and it was all square at the end of the middle session after Robin Martinsson beat Lions player-coach George Alley.
A tripping call against Haringey’s Ryan Payne gave Lions a powerplay chance either side of the break and they went 4-3 up just 33 seconds into the final period as Sin-Hidge claimed his first goal of the night.
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A roughing penalty against Stuart Appleby allowed Sin-Hidge to net his second powerplay goal of the game, with home goalie Matthew Brown injured in the process and replaced between the posts by Aaron Mallet.
Matt Brown closed the gap to one with just under nine minutes remaining to give Racers hope of salvaging something, before Lions had a goal waved off by the officials.
The hosts were then caught with too many men on the ice in the closing stages and hit with a bench minor penalty and Lions made them pay for the mistake as Sin-Hidge grabbed his third powerplay goal to complete his treble 27 seconds from time.
Scorers, Haringey: Matt Brown 2 Dan Clayton 1+2 Robin Martinsson 1 Josh Abbott 0+2 Ben Osborne 0+1 Jack Ball 0+1 Sam Park 0+1.
Lions: Ross Sin-Hidge 3+1 Nick Alley 2+2 James Hepburn 1 Simon Jones 0+3 Lee Hounslow 0+1.
Penalty minutes: Haringey 16 Lee Valley 8.
Shots faced: Matthew Brown (H, 46.20) 19-10-4=33-5 Aaron Mallet (H, 13.40) 8-1 George Alley (LV) 14-13-4=31-4.
