Streatham Redskins soared to the top of the English National League with a hard fought 3-2 win over Milton Keynes this weekend. The South London side took a full squad up to Buckinghamshire including star Slovak forward Peter Molnar who had missed the last couple of games.

The game started at a frenetic pace with the Redskins being roared on by a significant number of travelling supporters. With only 38 seconds gone, Liam Rasmussen nudged the puck to Tomas Valko and he made no mistake firing past Woolf in the Milton Keynes goal.

The home side hit back virtually straight away when Lee Featherstone skipped past a couple of static Redskins and passed through to Paul Jamieson who finished coolly past Stefan Nubert.

The Redskins took the lead again but this time on the power play. After a spell of pressure around the Thunder goal, Rasmussen found Valko on the far post and he fired his quick wrist shot into the corner of the net. The Redskins began to enjoy some long periods of possession with Coach Barry Spours rolling three lines throughout.

With five minutes left in the period, Casimir Madren-Britton found Michael Ranby with a long pass and the lanky centre man jinked past the Thunder defence before rounding Woolf and nestling the puck into the corner of the net.

With a 3-1 lead the visitors stepped off the Thunder and the home side came back into the game. Jamie Line and Connor Goode both had chances to pull a goal back for the Thunder but they found Redskins goalie Stefan Nubert in frustratingly good form.

These frustrations began to boil over as various players came together in heated exchanges. Thunder’s Matt Roberts chased Valko around the ice after the whistle and was handed a ten minute incitement penalty for his troubles.

The period ended with the score still 3-1 in the Redskins favour but with the Thunder in ascendency.

The third period was only seven minutes old when Jack Tarczycki and Harrison Goode dropped the gloves in the corner of the ice after a Thunder player had made a late challenge on goalie Nubert.

The referee then appeared to make a conscious effort to regain control of the game by calling numerous minor infractions. This played to the Thunder’s advantage as they piled on the pressure against an increasingly weary Redskins rearguard.

Stefan Nubert produced arguably his best performance of the season to keep out efforts from Ross Bowers and Martyn Snape, and the Welsh born stopper continued to frustrate the Thunder until five minutes from the end.. Jamie Randall finally scored for the home side with a slick finish from a Bowers pass to give the visitors a nervy closing stage.

Thankfully the Thunder began to hit penalty trouble themselves with Lee Featherstone receiving a clipping penalty after sending Joe Johnston flying up into the air and then Simon Howard sat two minutes for an obvious hooking call. The Thunder did however pull their goalie in the dying seconds but to no avail.

The 3-2 win sent the Redskins to the top of the league and earned them a standing ovation from the travelling fans who will be hoping their side can stay at the summit.

Alternate Captain Casimir Madren-Britton was delighted with the win against Milton Keynes and also the fact that the team moved to the top of the league: "We knew going to Milton Keynes would be tough like any other game in this league" said Britton. "We went up there to win and after making it difficult for ourselves we managed to grind out two points. There is a marked difference in our play this year and we never let our heads drop when under pressure.

"We have had some tough opening fixtures but our preparation and work ethic has been second to none and that is what is getting us results.

"It really has been a culmination of two years work to get us to the stage where we find ourselves at the top of the league and unbeaten so far this season.

"Credit has to go to our coaching team and management but we wont be resting on our laurels. It is a long season, but we fully intend on building on this good start and take every game as it comes."