Streatham Redskins went down to a 5-2 defeat against Wightlink Raiders at the High Road rink.

The Redskins were without defence man David Carr due to an ankle injury but welcomed winger Richard Hardy back to their line up, along with goalie James Tanner.

In front of a partisan home crowd, the Redskins had the best of the early exchanges but struggled to really test the Raiders goalie with any clear shots.

The visitors gradually began to assert themselves and Dan Hughes and Jeremy Cornish both tested Tanner in the Redskins goal with a number of shots.

It was the Redskins though who were first to break the deadlock when Louis Lockwood gathered the puck mid ice and rounded the Raiders defence with a textbook toe drag move before finishing high in to the top corner.

The home support erupted and the home side responded with Peter Molnar going close shortly after. The Raiders equalised with five minutes to go in the period through their player coach Cornish, whose close range snap shot ripped in to the Streatham net.

Cornish then incurred the wrath of the home crowd as he charged Redskins defence man Casimir Britton into the plexi glass causing it to smash. After a short break a replacement piece was found and the game resumed.

The period ended without any further score.

The second period didn’t go well for the Redskins as they conceded three goals without reply.

With both sides hitting penalty trouble courtesy of referee Rene Ross, Streatham struggled to clear their defensive zone and John Sarno coasted across the front of the net and finished smartly to give the visitors the lead.

Jeremy Cornish got his second shortly afterwards and then Dan Hughes scored an excellent slap shot to put the visitors in full control.

Despite the Redskins trailing 4-1, they managed to come out on to the ice in the third period with a renewed enthusiasm.

Much more composed on the puck and helped by a 2+2 minute penalty called on Wightlink’s Dan Scott for fighting, the Redskins should perhaps have pulled a couple of goals back but they struggled to find a way past the Raiders bustling short handed unit.

The Raiders bounced back and extended their lead through Andy Robinson and this effectively killed the game.

To their credit the Redskins kept going and were rewarded when in the closing minutes the impressive Molnar glided across the slot, dipped his shoulder then fired the puck in to the top of the net.

The game finished as a 5-2 loss for the Redskins and man of the match went to Streatham’s Ed Koral. Speaking after the game, coach Barry Spours was not too disheartened by the display:

"We still have much work to do but we are definitely on the right track and I anticipate more in the weeks that follow.

"We have been somewhat unlucky in that our opening fixtures having seen us draw five particularly difficult opponents in our first six games of the season but as we learn from each encounter it can only make us stronger when we eventually face teams of the middle and lower part of the league later in the year we should be in full stride’.

Spours was also pleased with Richard Hardy’s debut for the Redskins:

"Richard Hardy linked up well on the first line with Peter Molnar and Louis Lockwood. Along with solid defence from Fred Carnegy and Ed Koral, I really feel that this line is coming into its own, and will be more than a match for many teams in the league."

The Redskins next home game is on Sunday 4th October against the Invicta Dynamos. Face off is at 6.45 and tickets are available on the door.