Invicta Dynamos coach Karl Lennon believes the gap is closing between themselves and last year’s all-conquering Streatham.

The Mos opened their season against the league, cup and play-off champions and lost 11-3. On Saturday they met again in a tighter affair which saw Lennon’s men rally late on, losing the NIHL South Division 1 fixture 8-5.

“It was a tough game,” said the coach, who had to name himself in the side because of injuries and unavailability.

“It was in their own rink, in the league, they had their superstar player Ivan Antonov back from suspension, so they were very much at it from the first period of the game, and it was tough for us.

“We have a couple of long-term injuries and Louis Colvin, who has been fantastic for us, was missing because he was working unfortunately. We went there with even myself kitted up and playing, which is not an ideal scenario, but it was the situation we found ourselves in.

“They were very good, certainly in the first period very strong, we stuck with them, then in the second we had a five to 10 minute spell where we were under the cosh quite a but, they capitalised and scored a string of goals.

“The boys rallied in the final period and we won it 3-2, which for us in some way was a small win in itself, it’s the first period we have won against them this year, for me that is momentum in the right direction.

“We were 11-3 against them in the first game and now 8-5, the gap has closed a little bit and that is our intention, to progress and keep closing that gap and put them under as much pressure as we can.

“With a full complement of players most definitely we run them closer than what we did Saturday, but the boys were excellent, I couldn’t fault their application, they worked their socks off the whole game, it was just a few errors and poor decisions and they are a team who can punish you.”

Lennon knew it would be a big challenge to revive the Mos but progress is being made.

He said: “We are doing it with young payers too so there is an element of learning on the go, which we have to factor in. They coped admirably well, got stuck into a team that is known for being quite intimidating and there was no fear in our part, I was very happy with everyone, despite being unhappy to lose the game there were positives to take.”

It’s another double header coming up this weekend. Saturday’s trip to the Oxford City Stars in the Southern Cup is followed by a return to Gillingham’s Planet Ice on Sunday when the Slough Jets come to town for a South Division 1 match.

Colvin is expected to be back at the weekend but Ruskin Springer-Hughes (hand) and Tom Soar (collarbone) will be missing for several weeks. An operation on Springer-Hughes’ hand was a success, with several metal pins inserted. Soar is said to be in good spirits and both were with the boys last Saturday at Streatham.

Lennon knows injuries were always going to crop up and is happy to go with the roster he has for now.

He said: “At the moment where we can we will bring the Mustangs players in to play, that has been a great option to us and we have been grateful to them for allowing that, the two kids on a two-way couldn’t play (last Saturday) because they had a big game themselves at home, there are clashes. Where we can we get them in and where we can’t we go with what we’ve got.”

Oxford on Saturday will be a slightly unknown quantity for the Mos, having not faced them this term yet. They played Streatham on Sunday and were beaten 6-2.

“It is going to be fairly close I imagine between us,” Lennon said. “They have a new coach, a new roster and some exciting players on their part, it is a good challenge for us and a lot of opportunity in the cup because we have put ourselves in a good position, top of the table, and we need to maintain that.”

Slough were the opponents for the abandoned game at the start of the month when the Gillingham rink’s ice resurfacer broke down before the final period. The Mos were trailing 4-2 but confident of a positive third session.

“There is a lot of unfinished business from us,” Lennon said. “We didn’t play that badly in the game, we were 4-2 down going into the last period but we definitely had the lion’s share of possession and shots in the game, it was a matter of us not finishing. For us, we have to put that wrong to right on Sunday. We will have the Mustangs players available so that will help us with the roster.” The puck drops at 5.15pm on Sunday.