Romford's Frankie Harvey opened the scoring inside two minutes at Streatham

Streatham 4 Romford 2

Table-topping Raiders suffered only their second defeat of the National League season in south London last night.

The defending champions led 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, but the hosts produced a stunning final period to net four unanswered goals and claim the points.

Frankie Harvey deflected player-coach Danny Marshall’s pass into the top corner to open the scoring after 90 seconds at Planet Ice Brixton.

And AJ Smith skated clear to fire past Will Sanderson, who faced 50 shots in total on the night, and double the visitors lead in the sixth minute.

Andrius Kaminskas was denied a third goal by a Sanderson save, but Redskins captain Joe Johnston clipped a post at the other end.

JJ McGrath then clashed with Shaun Smith, with both sent to the penalty box along with Romford’s Tom Davis, and the home side tested Michael Gray during the powerplay.

Gray held firm and continued to thwart Redskins during a scoreless middle session.

Jakub Klima and Johnston, in particular, had good reason to curse the Raiders goalie after superb saves and both sides also rang the crossbar as the score remained at 2-0.

The third period was barely half-a-minute old, though, when Streatham finally found the back of the net through Klima.

And the early goal gave the hosts hope, although Sanderson had to be alert to keep out efforts from Smith and Matt Turner.

Redskins drew level with little over 10 minutes remaining through Liam Rasmussen, then edged 3-2 up on a powerplay as Kaminskas served a hooking minor when Klima and former Raider Joe Allen combined to set up Johnston at the far post.

Klima sent Allen racing clear to net a fourth and Raiders, despite replacing Gray with an extra skater in the closing stages, had no reply as Redskins recorded a fifth successive home victory.

Romford’s second loss – after their 4-3 reverse at Bracknell – leaves them top of the table on 30 points, only by virtue of their superior record against Essex rivals Chelmsford.

The Chieftains could leapfrog them this evening with victory against third-placed Isle of Wight, but would have played three more matches than Marshall’s men, who are in cup action against Invicta at Rom Valley Way (5.15pm).