The Raiders suffered yet another defeat at the hands of Streatham as London’s final home game of the regular season ended in a 3-0 defeat.
Streatham have been a challenging side for the Raiders this season as London lost 2-0 away to the Redhawks in September and fell 4-3 at Lee Valley shortly afterwards.
The most recent meeting was a 5-3 win for the Raiders, their only win in six against Streatham, but on Saturday at the Lee Valley Ice Centre, the east London side could not take any further revenge as the Raiders poor end-of-season run continued.
Since they last won against Streatham, the Raiders have been collecting negative results, losing in both legs of their cup semi-final against league champions Chelmsford and then tasting defeat against lowly Solent.
Injuries haven’t helped the Raiders, and the absence of key Raiders players such as JJ Pitchley and Matt France has surely contributed to their struggles.
Quick defeat
The visitors dominated from the very beginning and showed their strength on the powerplay, although the Raiders were able to keep them from scoring.
London then tried to snatch the momentum away from their opponents as captain Tom Davis found space and tested Matt Colclough with a blast just from outside the blue line.
But Streatham were quick to shut down the Raiders surge and London found themselves down by a goal with only a few seconds left in the first period, as Sean Scarborough teamed up with Joe Allen who beat Raiders netminder Euan King.
After the home side fell behind, the visitors took control and almost doubled their advantage through Callum Best, before Ryan Webb found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders were left with a mountain to climb when Streatham went on the powerplay and scored their third and final goal of the game courtesy of Adam Wood. The Raiders still had nearly an entire period to fight their way back, but could not find any way to break through the Redhawks defence.
To Oxford for the win
As the league stands Streatham move up to second place in the table whilst the Raiders finish their season with a trip to Oxford on Sunday. London will need to win to leapfrog the Stars and end in fourth place.