Lee Valley Lions 5 Romford Spitfires 7 Lee Valley Lions dismal start to the new season continued over the weekend as a lack of players through injury and work commitments played havoc once again. The team was only able to ice two lines on Saturday again

Lee Valley Lions 5

Romford Spitfires 7

Lee Valley Lions' dismal start to the new season continued over the weekend as a lack of players through injury and work commitments played havoc once again.

The team was only able to ice two lines on Saturday against local rivals, the Romford Spitfires and the situation got even worse for the away game at Solent on Sunday. Defenceman Ruslanas Jegovoras sustained a shoulder injury and two others guys were unable to make the trip, so the Lions had to cancel the game and concede a 5-0 loss.

Romford had a good compliment of skaters and iced a full three lines, which again took its toll on the weakened Lions team over the course of the game, but the first period was an evenly matched affair.

Stas Prokofiev and Freddie Trimble both had good opportunities turned away and Prokofiev had an open net in front of him when Michael Jacobs put the puck onto his backhand, but it bobbled as he went to slot it home and it rolled off his stick wide of the goal. However as the teams went into their first break, Lions only had Ashley Curtin's goal to show for their dominance.

Romford pulled level within a minute of the restart, and though the Lions were quick to counter attack, with Trimble again coming close, the Spitfires edged ahead on a powerplay, with Romanas Fedotovas in the box in the 33rd minute.

The third period was all about goals as both teams scored freely. Just four minutes in, the team from up the A12 increased their lead, as a pass from Joe Berry went astray and the Romford recipient wristed top corner.

A minute and a half later, the Lions' fans were treated to two minutes of non-stop cheering. First, with good work from Prokoviev and Fedotovas, Trimble scored with a clean shot over the goalie's glove. Michael Jacobs had a shot well saved, then James Scott-Joseph released Ashley Curtin who found Trimble again, who held his nerve to equalise.

Lee valley edged ahead when Michael Jacobs put a cross ice on the stick of Prokofiev who made no mistake, but the euphoria was short lived as Romford went one better and scored four goals to put the game out of the reach of the Lions.

Stas Prokofiev picked his second goal late on to pull the game back to a two-goal gap, the Lions pulled their netminder for the extra attacker to try to rescue the game, but this was to no avail.

It was a great effort from a team weakened by injury and missing players who had work commitments but without an influx of new players the Lions are going to continue to suffer defeats, and even worse the inability to fulfil fixtures.

l Lee Valley Lions' next home game is scheduled to be on 4 October against Basingstoke Buffalo, face-off 5.30pm, though fans are advised to check arrangements before travelling by visiting www.leevalleylions.co.uk