Not good enough was coach Kevin Parrish’s assessment of Invicta Dynamos' weekend performance.

After scraping a 3-3 draw at Bracknell on Saturday, through goals from Martin Melichercik (2) and Anthony Leone, Invicta lost 6-4 on home ice against Cardiff Dragons last night.

"That was the best we've played so far this season but it still isn't good enough," said Parrish. "On paper we are good enough but on the ice we just aren't."

In a show of just how strong the top echelons of ENIHL South 1 are this season, the Welsh side, icing seven players on suspended sentences from the league following an after-match brawl with Streatham on Saturday, showed a poise in front of goal that was distinctly lacking from the home side.

In a first period littered with needless minor penalties, Cardiff’s Luke Piggott started the avalanche of goals with a powerplay marker at 10.58. Milan Kostolny set up Elliott Andrews for a short-handed reply a minute later, before Steve Fisher’s backhanded effort saw Cardiff into the interval 2-1 ahead.

Grant Baxter equalised at 22.43, before Fisher, Dan Madge and Piggott scored three unanswered goals to put Cardiff 5-2 ahead with 18 minutes to play.

Kostolny’s cool finishing reduced the deficit to one, but Piggott’s hat-trick goal, on the breakaway, ended any Invicta hopes of a comeback.