National League Div 2SE: Invicta Mustangs 5 Lee Valley Lions 10

Lee Valley completed a clean sweep over Invicta with a double-figure haul in Gillingham.

Lions had won the three previous meetings between the sides this season, by 8-2, 5-3 and 6-4 margins, and bounced back from defeats against Chelmsford, Peterborough and Slough – when they netted only once in each game – to enjoy a comfortable success over the Mustangs.

Less than two minutes had been played when Kevin Lake fired Lions ahead and captain James Hepburn doubled the advantage with a shorthanded goal in the fourth minute.

Invicta lost Richard Smith to a 5+game penalty for tripping and Max Gerstein made it 3-0 at the first break, after Lions had outshot the hosts 19-8.

Matthew Drake added a fourth just 20 seconds after the restart, but Jake Luton beat James Tipple for Invicta’s first soon after, before Lake restored the four-goal cushion on a Lee Valley powerplay, after Anthony Baskerville was called for tripping.

The final period was only 38 seconds old when Nick Alley made it 6-1 and Joe Berry claimed Lee Valley’s seventh, before Joseph Day and Jordan Lee Turner got in on the act and netted 27 seconds apart to put the visitors 9-1 up.

Luton potted his second for Invicta, before Baskerville and Kwame Holt struck 42 seconds apart to make it 9-4.

But after Lions saw Tipple given a 10-minute misconduct penalty, Phil Carson took the visitors into double figures on a delayed penalty call and a shorthanded effort from Aaron Ferris was purely a consolation for Mustangs.

Tipple picked up a second misconduct penalty on the buzzer, having made 42 saves, and Lions return to home ice to welcome Peterborough Islanders for their next match on January 31.

Scorers, Invicta: Luton 2 Ferris 1+1 Holt 1 Baskerville 1 Gruber 0+1.

Lee Valley: Lake 2 Alley 1+3 Gerstein 1 Carson 1 Hepburn 1 Day 1 Berry 1 Drake 1 Turner 1 Fox 0+1 Abban 0+1 Mewett 0+1 Gosling 0+1.

Penalty minutes: Invicta 29 Lee Valley 52.

Shots faced: Grut (Invicta) 34 Tipple (Lee Valley) 47.