THE Gillingham-based Invicta Dynamos ice hockey squad have won the English National Premier League's sportsmanship team award (Jo Hernon writes).

Director Jackie Mason said: "The league secretary Bill Britton told us it was for our sportsmanship on the ice and administration off the ice, plus that we were a really good bunch of people!"

It may not be as coveted as last season's double, but it is still satisfying to see the club's unruffled acceptance of changes off the ice rewarded.

With the inclusion of traditionally big clubs from Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Slough, the Mos knew it would be very tough to retain their title this season.

Add to that the battle with the franchise, which put the team behind in the pre-season signing of players, and it became a near impossibility.

But instead of throwing tantrums, the players and management knuckled down and made the best of a difficult situation.

The club held their end of season presentation night on Friday at the Rochagas Sports & Social Club in Gillingham.

Captain Phil Chard was given a massive vote of confidence by his team as they gave him the coveted players' player of the year award.

The hard-hitting, explosive style of Michael Wales has obviously endeared him to both the fans and management as he took the supporters' and clubman accolades in his debut season.

Matt Beveridge was named forward of the year for a third successive season, while Jake French and Matt Van Der Velden did a little trophy swapping, taking each other's titles from last season to become defenceman and British player of the year respectively.