Shaun Yardley's hat-trick led Romford to victory in their last meeting with Invicta

Our guide to the weekend’s fixtures

Saturday

National League Cup

Oxford Stars v Romford Raiders (5pm)

Raiders make their first appearance of 2013 in the university city against the Division Two Stars.

Danny Marshall’s men went into the festive break with slender back-to-back wins over Bracknell to keep their hopes alive in this new competition.

And they will look to sweep their lower league hosts aside before getting back to the bread and butter of their league title defence.

Romford’s last trip to Oxford ended in a hard-fought 4-2 win in October 2011.

They had to come from behind after Andrew Cox beat Glen Jackson to open the scoring in the second period.

Juraj Huska eventually beat the inspirational Patrick Russell in the 38th minute to level and pounced on a loose puck when Billy Phillips saw his shot saved to put Raiders ahead in the 49th minute.

Anthony Leone made it 3-1, but Josh Oliver hit back after a mistake by Andrius Kaminskas and a tripping call against AJ Smith gave Stars a late powerplay chance.

But after Russell made way for an extra skater, Phillips fired into the empty net to clinch Romford’s win.

National League Division Two

Romford Fury v Lee Valley Lions (5.15pm)

Fury return from a four-week break to host basement boys Lee Valley at Rom Valley Way.

Romford went into the festive period on a high, having recorded three successive wins over Basingstoke, Cardiff and Oxford to move up to fourth place in the table.

But they were made to work hard by the Lions when the two sides met in east London in September.

Robert Jenner and Matt Brown were on target in a 2-1 win, as Fury outshot the home side by a 67-21 margin.

Lee Valley have lost all 12 of their matches played to date this season.

Sunday

National League Division One

Romford Raiders v Invicta Dynamos (5.15pm)

Raiders return to the defence of their league title as the Dynamos visit on Sunday.

The clubs have met four times already this season, with Romford winning their first encounter in the South East Trophy by a 4-2 margin, before fighting back from three goals down to earn a 4-4 tie in the return in Gillingham.

Dynamos rallied from 4-2 behind to win 6-4 when the sides faced each other again in Kent in a National League Cup tie in late October, but a Shaun Yardley hat-trick helped Raiders claim the league points when they returned at the start of last month.

Dynamos have since signed former Romford defenceman Tyrone Miller to bolster their blue line, following his release by Streatham.

But Raiders, who hold a one-point lead over the Isle of Wight at the top of the table, will be keen to reassert their authority during the second half of the season.