Romford goalie Michael Gray comes under attack against Invicta

Cahill: Turnovers cost us

Romford Raiders team manager Mick Cahill reflected on his team’s mixed fortunes in last weekend’s games.

Raiders emerged 4-2 winners at Bracknell on Saturday and Cahill said: “We’ve slipped on the Bracknell banana skin before so, if I’m honest, we went there with some trepidation.

“On paper we should always beat Bracknell but they have a better record against us than any other team in the league so we knew this was no gimme.

“As usual, they gave one hundred per cent all night and we were very pleased to come out with the win.

“We were 2-0 up in no time and that gap proved decisive. Although we were hanging on a bit at the end, we did a professional job.

“We were already without JJ (McGrath) and Yards (Shaun Yarldey) and lost Bomber (Andrius Kaminskas) to injury before the end of the game so it was a bit ‘backs-to-the-wall’, but we did enough to prevail.”

On Sunday however, the blue and gold suffered a shock 7-5 home defeat at the hands of the Invicta, seriously hindering their chances of defending the league title.

Cahill added: “Sunday was just one of those nights when post-match analysis wasn’t necessary as our shortcomings were obvious.

“Turnovers cost us dear and a few bad habits crept back into our game. With speedy forwards, like Invicta have, there’s always a risk of getting caught on the break and those forwards can kill you.

“We probably could have done better in all departments and I’m afraid we gifted them some of their goals. We’ve got away with it on occasions this season but Sunday wasn’t one of those.

“We just didn’t get many things going our way either. When we’d pulled one back to make it 5-4, the next goal was always going to be huge, but a cruel deflection off the boards threw the puck into the path of the unmarked Callum Fowler and we were down by two again.

“I certainly don’t want to suggest that Invicta were lucky. Far from it. Quite simply, it’s the best performance I’ve seen from them in two years. We didn’t help ourselves but the Dynamos deserved their victory.”

Danny Marshall’s men are now third in the league, two points behind table-topping Chelmsford, who also have a game in hand.

Romford travel to the Isle of Wight on Saturday for a must win clash, before hosting Cardiff at Rom Valley Way on Sunday (5.15pm).