MIKE KINDRED’S double strike inspired Invicta Dynamos to a 5-2 play-off victory over Swindon Lynx on a night of high drama at Gillingham Ice Bowl. Man of the match Kindred netted twice in the second period, and assisted the opener by Carl Greenhous, to leave the Dynamos needing to draw their final game against Romford next week to set up a final against the Isle of Wight Raiders.

However, their joy was slightly marred by an unseemly incident near the end of the game when the Swindon players lost their discipline and rink security had to step in to prevent them clashing with Dynamos fans.

Team manager Andy Mason was pleased with the team’s display against strong opposition. “We were unlucky to lose down there in the play-offs a few weeks ago, so we were pleased to beat them this time,” he said. “It sets us up nicely now for the Romford game.”

The home team started strongly and were able to open up a 2-0 by the end of the first period courtesy of two powerplay goals.

After only a few minutes the Dynamos found themselves with a five-on-three advantage, while Swindon’s Merv Priest served a slashing penalty and Nick Eden sat out a bench penalty for too many men on the ice.

And they made the most of it as a Greenhous blue line shot broke the deadlock on 5.39. Having successfully come through a short-handed spell of their own midway through the period, the Dynamos again capitalised on a numerical advantage after a penalty was called on Mike Smith for interference. Duane Ward played the puck back to Sean Clement who powered a long-range shot into the roof of the net (17.15).

The Dynamos continued to control the second period and a flowing move from one end of the ice to the other ended with a clinical finish by Kindred (28.17). But Swindon rallied and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when they pulled a goal back through Sean Tarr while both sides were playing with a man short on 30.57.

The Dynamos remained unmoved by this setback and it was not long before Kindred put his team firmly back in the driving seat with his second goal of the game (38.25). Both sides were down to four men again when Lee Braithewaite set up a frantic finale by scoring on 46.49 to put his side within two goals of the Dynamos.

Swindon pulled netminder Craig Wynn with 90 seconds left in a last desperate attempt to salvage the match, but this enabled the Dynamos to break away and get a fifth through Jon Gray (59.36). As the puck went in, two Swindon players cynically fouled two Dynamos players and a fight broke out between Sean Clement and Drew Chapman.

After match officials broke up the fight, Swindon’s players regrouped on their bench before Simon Keating came flying off the ice and tried to get at the home fans. He was held back by a rink security man, but a couple of other Swindon players started becoming involved in arguments with supporters as things threatened to get out of hand.

When order was finally restored, Keating, the chief culprit, was given two minutes for leaving the players’ bench, a 10-minute misconduct penalty, as well as a game penalty. But the incident did not overshadow what was a good night’s work by the Dynamos who can go on dreaming of that historic treble.