Don McDermott saw the Raiders succumb to a fractious 5-2 defeat at Oxford.
The Raiders were battered by the Oxford City Stars on Sunday, 5-2, in a match that was highlighted by eight fights, furious London supporters and 68 penalty minutes.
London captain Tom Davis and Robert Veares contributed the goals for the Raiders, but it was Oxford City who scored first in the third minute. It was a lead they never surrendered.
After the Stars’ opening goal, the Raiders’ Mason Webster was penalized for hooking. Davis was vocally furious at the penalty and the travelling London fans chorused their agreement.
The Stars used the man advantage well, as London’s defence backed off and let Joshua Florey float in from the blue line and snap home a goal through the defence to increase the Stars lead to two.
London had few chances to get on the scoreboard throughout the period. Errant passes from The Raiders created opportunities for the home side and London’s frustration mounted.
Raiders goalie Michael Gray was a bright spot as he prevented the Stars from taking a 3-0 lead late in the period with a stellar reflex save.
Ugly
But a few minutes later, the match began to turn ugly. Oxford City captain Darren Elliott was penalized for holding Webster. Webster retaliated and the penalty was negated as Webster was also given a two-minute penalty for fighting.
Two more scuffles broke out in the ensuing minutes and there was a lengthy delay as the referees tried to settle the players’ tempers.
When play restarted the Raiders were given a 4-on-3 advantage. Seven seconds later, play was stopped again as the referees whistled cross-checking on the Stars Boris Ruzicka and a penalty for holding the stick on the Raiders’ Rio Grinell-Parke.
A frustrated Davis took a slap shot from the blue line several seconds after the whistle and was greeted with a sarcastic standing ovation from Oxford City bench. Davis and the bench exchanged words as the referee raced over to prevent any blows being exchanged.
In the second period, Davis finally netted London’s first goal. Gray started the play, sending the puck up ahead to Slovakian international Marek Nahlik, who passed it on to Webster. Webster raced into the offensive zone and passed the puck across to Davis, who fired in a slap shot from the left faceoff circle.
But the Stars cushioned their lead again just a few minutes later. Alan Green cut through the defence and chipped the puck in front of the net, where Benjamin Ealey-Newman was waiting to drive it home for the goal.
Brilliance
Green made it 4-1, scoring on a slap shot, but then Raiders alternate captain David Oliver stole the show defensively, diving onto the ice to block to scoring chances with his body.
When Oliver was penalized late in the period for cross-checking, the Raiders produced a flash of brilliance and netted a short-handed goal.
Davis and Nahlik charged into their offensive zone with a 2-on-1 advantage. Oxford City’s defenseman dropped down between them to block any passing, but Nahlik flipped the puck over him and Davis fired the puck into the wide-open right side of the net to once again cut the lead in half.
Oliver soon returned to the ice but was immediately put back in the box as the game got chippy again. Oliver was assessed two minutes for roughing plus a 10-minute misconduct.
The first half of the third period was quiet, but the hostility was still simmering.
At the halfway mark, the pent up frustration of the Raiders reached a breaking point as two London players were knocked down in the offensive zone and no penalties were called. As the London fans furiously protested, a shoving match started between London and Oxford City. In seconds, a 10-man fight was on as the crowd leapt to their feet.
The melee quickly resolved into two separate fights, each ending with the players wrestling each other to the ice.
Fights
Raiders alternate captain Rob Jenner and Webster were given two penalties each for fighting. Oxford City alternate Dax Hedges was also give a 2+2, whilst his teammate Jason Ikin was awarded with three penalties.
Two smaller fights broke out over the next few minutes. London fans continued to berate the referees and the atmosphere at the arena became charged with anger.
With just 38.5 seconds remaining, Oxford City’s alternate captain Andrew Cox was whistled for charging Webster. Both players threw off their gloves, and the referees decided to let them fight. Webster quickly knocked Cox to the ice and the referees assessed penalties.
After the restart, London pulled Gray to get an extra attacker on the ice for the final seconds. But the move did little for the visiting side as the Stars Michael Whillock scored on the empty net with 2.2 seconds left and the Raiders were dropped down to seventh place in the NIHL Division 1 South.
Next week the Raiders play a home match against Invicta before taking on Solent away.