Everyone Active Raiders forward Tommy Huggett admits it was an ‘unreal feeling’ as he netted his first goal for the National League side.

The 18-year-old made the step up from the club’s second team, Romford Junior Raiders, in the summer and bagged his first goal in the 7-2 defeat by Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday at the Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre.

Raiders lost 7-3 to the same opponents the night before. They’ve now completed four of the 12 matches they’re due to play in the NIHL Spring Cup.

“Scoring my first National League goal was a unreal feeling and I'm hoping that I can put more on the board for the Raiders,” Huggett said.

Sheffield Steeldogs have bolstered their squad with the additions of Great Britain stars Ben O’Connor, David Phillips, Jonathan Phillips and Ben Lake as well as NHL draft pick Liam Kirk, among other big names, for these games.

“It was a good experience to play against some of the players in their team and it was definitely a lot faster than what I’m used to - which is making the step up into this league a lot harder.

“This series is a huge development for myself and the team. I’m not use to playing at the speed that games are going during the Spring Cup. But it will help me react faster if the game play slows down a little when the Elite League players go back to their teams when their league starts.

“It’s the same for the team as well and if we can compete with some of the players we are going up against now it’ll definitely help us going into next season.”

Huggett picked up 57 points in 29 games for Romford Junior Raiders last season and is now trying to work his way into gaining more ice-time for the first team as the games go on in the Spring Cup series.