Jason Buckman netted a rare goal in Romford's defeat at the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight 5 Romford Raiders 4

Robbie Brown’s 59th-minute goal sent Romford Raiders crashing to defeat against their namesakes at Ryde Ice Arena last night.

The visitors had battled back from a poor first period, which saw them fall 4-0 down, to draw level in the middle period.

And the match remained in the balance until Brown struck his late winner.

Table-topping Romford, beaten 4-2 at Streatham a week earlier, fell behind with seven minutes gone as Jiri Hanzal put the hosts ahead.

Craig Tribe doubled Wight’s lead four minutes later and Brown made it 3-0 just 22 seconds on from that.

And Brown completed a miserable opening stanza for Danny Marshall’s men with a fourth for Wight in the 19th minute.

Michael Gray was replaced between the Romford pipes by Shane Kemp during the interval and Juraj Huska replied with a shorthanded goal just 32 seconds after the restart.

Romford captain Julian Smith received a 10-minute misconduct penalty before Andrius Kaminskas added a second on a powerplay.

And Jason Buckman cut the gap to one with a rare goal, before Matt Turner levelled in the 36th minute.

Romford, denied victory by a last-gasp goal on their first visit to the island this season and beaten 4-0 in the South East Trophy on a second trip, dominated the shot count 11-6 in the closing frame.

But Brown sent them home unhappy once again, completing his hat-trick at 58:09 to earn the hosts the points.

Victory allowed Wight to take over at the top of the table but Romford, who have two games in hand on their rivals, can return to the summit with victory over Bracknell at Rom Valley Way tonight (5.15pm).

Hornets made the defending champions work hard for victory when they visited for a cup tie before Christmas, netting six times in the final period in a 7-6 Romford win.

Scorers, Isle of Wight: Robbie Brown 3 Jiri Hanzal* 1 Craig Tribe 1 Alex Murray 0+2 Damon Larter 0+1 Jeremy Cornish* 0+1 Richard Facey 0+1 Corey Watkins 0+1.

Romford: Matt Turner 1+2 Jason Buckman 1 Andrius Kaminskas* 1 Juraj Huska* 1 Grant Taylor 0+1 Julian Smith 0+1 Ryan Giles 0+1.