A tough weekend on paper turned into a tough weekend on the ice for the Wightlink Raiders as they faced the leagues two top teams.

The Raiders played host to the Bracknell Hornets at Ryde Arena on Saturday keen to avenge the loss suffered in Bracknell the previous weekend. The Raiders however found themselves on the backhand even before the first puck had been dropped. American forward John Sarno was confirmed as not returning to the line up after travelling home for a family bereavement, Steve Slater was unable to play after suffering an injury during midweek training, and Joe Reynolds was unavailable for the game.

Undeterred the short-benched Raiders made a good start to the game, bagging the first goal of the night. Luke Reynolds placing an unassisted rocket from the neutral zone into the back of Bracknell net, ending the first period 1-0 in favour of the home side. The period however was not all good news for the Raiders after the impressive shot blocking defenseman Dan Scott was taken to hospital following a high-speed collision with the boards. Later confirmed to have a fractured ankle, Scott is expected to be out for between four and six weeks but has set his sights on being fit for the post-season playoffs.

Bracknell managed to level the game at one a piece mid way through the second period, beating experienced netminder Toby Cooley in the Raiders net. The Island side were dealt another blow minutes later as to the despair of the large supporting crowd Steve Gosset was handed a match penalty for cross checking. The Island trained forward was consequently ejected from the game and prevented from icing against Invicta the following night. The Raiders continued to battle against the Hornets, succeeding to keep the Berkshire team at bay until the final minute of the second period as Bracknell secured their second of the night to lead the game 2-1.

It was a heartbreaking two minutes mid way through the third period that sealed the Raiders fate as they conceded two quick goals from the opportunistic Bracknell team. Unable to find an answer and clearly suffering from the depleted squad the Raiders were handed a 4-1 defeat, in a game that’s on ice play was closer than the score would suggest come the final whistle.

Travelling to Gillingham on Sunday to take on the Invicta Dynamos the Raiders always knew it was going to be a difficult game. With the team now without five players from their roster coach Jeremy Cornish has some reshuffling work to do to his line up.

The Raiders were determined to put in a good performance and held Invicta well for the first 15 minutes for the game before falling foul of the Dynamos potent scoring talent as they knocked two past Matt Colclough in the Raiders net to end the first period 2-0.

The second period would see another concerted effort from the Raiders as the continued to put pressure on Invicta, but again were left empty handed as the only goal scored went in the Dynamos favour to end the period 3-0.   

Danny Hughes would finally hit the back of the net for the Island side late in the third period to bring the score to 3-1 with time running out. The Raiders pulled Matt Colclough in the dying minutes of the game in favour for an extra forward, but it was not to be as Invicta secured the win with an empty net goal, to make the final score 4-1 despite the Raiders outshooting their opponents over the course of the game.

Young netminder Matt Colclough was voted Player of the Month for January by Raiders fans after a series of impressive performances between the pipes including the two back to back wins against the Chelmsford Chieftains.

Steve Gosset, Steve Slater and Joe Reynolds are expected to return to the Raiders line up for this weekends only game against the Cardiff ENL Devils at the Cardiff Bay Arena on Sunday. The Raiders next home game is on Saturday 27th February against the Haringey Greyhounds at Ryde Arena with the usual 6pm faceoff.