THE hopes of the Gillingham-based ice hockey team, Invicta Dymamos, collecting a morale-boosting English League Cup victory ended in controversial circumstances after the early dismissal of forward Elliott Andrews in a 3-1 home defeat against Isle of White Raiders on Sunday night.

The Dynamos star was handed a five plus game penalty when he boarded Raiders' Scott Carter, who was subsequently stretchered off the rink, after four minutes.

However, much to the annoyance of the home crowd and, to a certain extent, the home players, Carter returned to the action at the start of the second period after recovering from his elbow injury.

To make matters worse for the hosts, the referee also admitted to the Dynamos management at the final whistle that the dismissal was a little harsh and he was willing to put in his full-time report that he could have made a mistake.

Team manager Andy Mason said: “If the ban stands, Elliot will miss the next game against Swindon. We think that would be unfair so we will be talking to the league today and hopefully they will overturn the decision.”

The controversy over the dismissal didn't disguise another defeat for the Dynamos.

It looked so good for the home team after just 35 seconds when Matt Beveridge found Duane Ward, who controlled and shot in one motion to give Carl Greenhous' side the lead.

Despite losing Andrews after four minutes, Dynamos comfortably held on to their advantage until just before the quarter-hour point when Jason Coles found the top corner of the net from a Neil Leary pass.

The second period started in almost identical fashion to the first with Dynamos going close after 35 seconds but it wasn't to be as the two teams cancelled each other out for the remaining 20 minutes.

Patience was always going to be the key to victory and it was the visitors who showed the better composure in front of goal during the final period.

Adam Carr gave Isle of Wight the lead for the first time with a cool finish following a pass from Coles, who put the game beyond doubt with his second goal five minutes from time.

Although Greenhous was understandably disappointed with the result he was pleased with the home team's performance.

He said: “I was quite pleased with the effort the team put in and I thought we deserved a better result. I can't fault any of the boys even though we lost.

“It was a well-played game tonight. It was a defensive battle in which they managed to convert a couple of their late chances and we didn't convert ours.

“It's the second night in a row we have jumped into early leads but unfortunately we haven't been able to hold on to a result on either occasion.”

It wasn't a good weekend against the Raiders, as Dynamos threw away a three-goal lead to draw 4-4 away to Romford Raiders on Saturday - a result that ended their hopes of qualifying for the English National Premier League Cup finals.

Beveridge netted after three minutes, Dan Fudger extended the lead from a Jake French centre before Ward gave Dynamos a 3-0 lead with just over 27 minutes on the clock.

However, Romford pulled themselves back into the tie when Noel Burkitt slotted home but Dynamos held on until the third period and, with less than 15 minutes remaining, they looked set to take the win.

Two goals within one minute from Rob Douglas and Anthony Child levelled the scores but Dynamos regained their advantage almost immediately through Phil Chard.

And that's how it stayed until three minutes from time when Luc Chabot snatched a 4-4 draw for Romford.