Romford Raiders player-coach Danny Marshall in action against Bracknell

Romford Raiders 4 Bracknell 5

Romford Raiders dropped to third place in the National League Division One table after a shock home defeat against Bracknell last night.

Beaten by a late goal at the Isle of Wight on Saturday, the defending champions scored twice in 35 seconds midway through the first period on home ice.

Frankie Harvey opened the scoring in the ninth minute, with Andrius Kaminskas doubling Romford’s lead soon after.

But Bracknell hit back through Tony Barclay early in the middle session and Peter Jasik beat Shane Kemp to tie it up at 26:14.

Romford rallied to regain the lead through AJ Smith just 16 seconds later and Harvey’s shorthanded goal made it 4-2 just before the game’s midway mark.

Hornets refused to lie down, though, and Barclay’s second goal of the night was followed by an equaliser from Harvey Stead, before Ryan Webb struck in the final minute of the period to put the visitors 5-4 up.

Raiders dominated the shot count 14-7 in the final frame, but could not find a way past former Romford goalie Chris Douglas as they slipped to a third successive defeat.

They trail new leaders Chelmsford by two points, with a game in hand, and visit the Chieftains for a crunch Essex derby clash next Sunday.

Scorers, Romford: Frankie Harvey 2+1 AJ Smith 1+2 Andrius Kaminskas* 1 Danny Marshall 0+2 Ryan Giles 0+1.

Bracknell: Tony Barclay 2 Peter Jasik* 1 Ryan Webb 1 Harvey Stead 1 Ryan Handisides 0+2 Nick Mihinnick 0+2 Ben Paynter 0+2 Jordan Gregory 0+1 Tom Fisher 0+1 Carl Thompson 0+1.