National League Div 1: MK Thunder 11 London Raiders 5

East London Advertiser: TJ Fillery netted his first goal for Raiders at Milton Keynes (pic; John Scott)TJ Fillery netted his first goal for Raiders at Milton Keynes (pic; John Scott) (Image: Archant)

Raiders slumped to a sixth straight defeat against a much-improved Milton Keynes side last night.

Thunder had won four of their first seven matches of the season, all played on the road, before opening their refurbished rink to welcome Danny Marshall’s men.

And the home side gave their fans plenty to celebrate, while extending London’s losing run.

Ryan Coffey broke the deadlock with a powerplay goal in the 13th minute, as Phil Manny served a hooking minor, and Piotr Poziomkowski doubled Thunder’s lead during another man advantage with AJ Smith sitting out a delay of game penalty.

East London Advertiser: Jacob Ranson netted his first goal as a Raider at former club Milton Keynes (pic: John Scott)Jacob Ranson netted his first goal as a Raider at former club Milton Keynes (pic: John Scott) (Image: Archant)

Raiders hit back after the restart through Stephen Deacon, who added a shorthanded second to get them back on terms at 26:51, with debutant Stevie Dunnage in the penalty box.

But an interference call against Jakub Klima gave Thunder the chance to regain the lead with their third straight powerplay strike of the night, as Jamie Line netted the first of his four goals.

Alasdair Barrow made it 4-2 just past the midway mark, before Line, Alex Whyte (powerplay) and Poziomkowski added further goals to leave Raiders with a mountain to climb in the final period.

Poziomkowski netted 40 seconds after the restart to complete his treble, before Jacob Ranson opened his Raiders account against his old club on an assist from Jack Lee.

Another Poziomkowski goal made it 9-3, though, and the home side replaced starting goalie Damien King with Spencer Camisky for the final 16 minutes of the match.

Line struck twice more, netting his side’s fifth powerplay goal of the night to take them into double figures before Lee was ejected with a match penalty for roughing after a clash with Coffey.

Line also beat Raiders back-up George Alley, who replaced Mike Brabon for the last 10 minutes, and although the visitors claimed a pair of goals late on, as TJ Fillery broke his Raiders duck in the penultimate minute from Klima’s pass and Vaclav Drabek struck from a Lewis Jones assist, it was little consolation for player-coach Marshall and his men.

Scorers, Thunder: Line 4+3 Poziomkowski* 4+1 Whyte 1+3 Coffey 1+1 Barrow 1 Randall 0+4 Mboya 0+1 H Goode 0+1. Raiders: Deacon 2 Fillery 1 Drabek* 1 Ranson 1 Klima* 0+2 Jones 0+1 Lee 0+1.

Shots faced: King (MK, 43:50) 25-2 Caminsky (MK, 16:10) 15-3 Brabon (Raiders, 49:54) 41-10 Alley (Raiders, 10:06) 5-1.

Penalty minutes: Thunder 22 Raiders 47.