FANS of the Gillingham-based Invicta Dynamos ice hockey team were treated to shorthanded goals, big hits, fights, goals galore and netminder Matt Van Der Velden at his glorious best in a highly entertaining weekend.

On Saturday in the 5-2 defeat at Peterborough Van Der Velden was not surprisingly named player of the match for turning away 59 of the 64 fired at him. He was so good even the Phantom fans were open in their admiration, saying it was the best goaltending performance they had seen for many years at Planet Ice.

At the Ice Bowl on Sunday backup netminder Carl Ambler was given the chance to celebrate his GB under-17 call up against Haringey in a game the Mos easily won 11-4.

Player coach Carl Greenhous said: "It was a much-improved performance from us this weekend. Against Peterborough we played very well for two periods, but our short bench just ran out of steam although we continued to put a fight.

"I was proud of the guys, especially Vandy who played a blinder which is exactly what we need from him when the team is in a poor run. He really came through for us.

"Sunday saw a solid, all round performance and I'm happy with the way players like Peter Korff have improved with the added ice time they have been given.

"I was very impressed with Adam Smith's first game for us, at 15 he shows great potential and I like the way he skates with his head up, always aware of what's going on.

"Carl Ambler and Dan Fudger again did well and Garrett Bruce got his goals that his opportunist play deserved."

Dynamos made their first trip to the Phantoms missing Duane Ward (flu) so were forced to play with just two lines.

Van Der Velden's brilliance meant the home side only had one Jake Armstrong goal on the powerplay at 17.05 to show for their first period work.

A satisfying second period saw Van Der Velden stop a two-on-one attack, lots of hard hitting and the Mos' first goal of the night, captain Phil Chard from Clement at 30:19 on the powerplay.

Then the impressive Doug McEwen skated through the whole Dynamos team to score unassisted, but Greenhous followed up a Matt Beveridge effort to slam the puck into the bottom corner to make it 2-2.

At the start of the third period hopes were high, but the short squad tired and Armstrong (41.59), McEwen (45.10) and Cook (50.17) wrapped up the game for Peterborough.

On Sunday there was a feisty end to the game when Michael Wales and Mark Thomas were chucked out for fighting. The 2+2 for cross checking and 5+game for fighting means Wales will be suspended for the Dynamos next game against Romford.

First memorable moment of the moment of the match was a rare three on five shorthanded goal. The Mos looked to be in real trouble when a tripping call on Beveridge was followed 19 seconds later by a harsh call on Wales for the same offence.

It looked likely Haringey would draw first blood, but Elliott Andrews had other ideas and took the puck all the way from his defensive zone before shooting past Tom Wills at 7.25.

Final shot of the period saw Invicta stretch their lead at 19.49 when excellent play by Smith, rescuing a stray pass, allowed Stuart Low to apply the finishing touch.

Two goals in the opening three minutes of the second period killed Racers' hopes as Jake French shot from the blue line and Greenhous scored a sensational solo goal. The big D-man picked up a rebound off Ambler's pads, skated the entire length of the ice, ghosted past the defence and slipped the puck under Willis.

For the second time the Mos then found themselves three facing five when French was called unfairly for interference, this time the Racers worked their advantage, David Carr scoring from Cody Mayoh.

The period ended with Invicta scoring their second shorthanded goal, Wales unassisted finding the corner with a neat shot at 37.12.

The hard hits were becoming more and more frequent in the third period and Peter Korff got a big cheer for a huge hit on Carr, before Petteri Pitko scored Haringey's second.

The reply was immediate as Low (45.10) started a five goals in four minutes blitz, Greenhous (45.31), Bruce (46.51) and Wales (48.44) also finding a way past the bewildered Willis, while Mayoh (47.10) sneaked one for Haringey.

It all got a little heavy for the final 10 minutes, young Dan Fudger getting a good response from the fans and his bench when he proved he can not only play, but can look after himself too.

After being blindsided, he jumped up and pummelled Dave Richards, both men receiving 2 minutes for roughing at 52.42.

Five minutes later and the fists were flying again as Thomas took umbrage at Wales' check on a colleague and had the Mos man's shirt half off before he knew what had hit him. Wales made a scrap of it, but was fighting blindly with his jersey over his head.

Invicta still weren't finished on the goal front, man of the match Bruce with a cheeky lob at 56.57 and Greenhous with a monster of a shot that was just too hot to handle at 58.34.

Haringey had the final word when Brian McLoughlin shot through a crowd of players on the powerplay at 59.01, but it was Invicta's night.

RESULTS: (SAT) Isle of Wight 10 Nottingham 1, Milton Keynes 13 England 2, Slough 14 Haringey 2, Peterborough 5 Invicta 2, Swindon 4 Chelmsford 2. (Sun) Chelmsford 3 Slough 2, Invicta 11 Haringey 4, Nottingham 2 Telford 4, Romford 5 Peterborough 7, Swindon 2 Milton Keynes 2.