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Sport

Invicta Dynamos’ fans got to meet former Arsenal and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech after his netminder duties for Oxford City Stars in the NIHL South Division 1 match

By: Luke Cawdell lcawdell@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 06 February 2024

Invicta Dynamos came up against former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on Saturday but even his man-of-the-match performance couldn’t deny them a win.

Cech’s enjoying his senior sporting years playing South Division 1 ice hockey and there was plenty of respect shown for the former top-class football shot-stopper after his fine performance against the Mos and his gentlemanly conduct afterwards.

Netminder Cech could only do so much on Saturday for his Oxford City Stars team as the Mos enjoyed a 5-0 win in the league. The teams met again in the Southern Cup on Sunday where the Gillingham side clinched a 6-4 away win.

Invicta head coach Karl Lennon was full of admiration for the visiting netminder on Saturday after watching him take selfies with their own fans on the ice at the end of the game.

Lennon said: “It was quite sweet afterwards when Petr Cech won his man-of-the-match, the kids were asking for selfies on the ice and as a gent, he obliged.

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“You could tell the mark of a man from something like that, he couldn’t offer enough time to everyone.

“On Saturday, Oxford shared that he would be their starting netminder and we capitalised on it and put that information out, and I think that helped the attendance in the evening.

“It was ‘Kids for a Quid’ and there were a few different sports team that came along too, with a couple of football teams there.

“As a Czech player, he was brought up and raised on ice hockey. One of the greatest goalies ever to play ice hockey is Dominik Hasek who was from that country. His childhood is probably being lived out and lived through his senior years, which is quite cool.

“We all have our passions that sit within us and he is just exploiting his now, which is great.

“First off, he is in super shape and you can see the professionalism he brings, which is impressive and on top of that the way he plays, a big, stand-up goalie, a strong presence like he was for Chelsea and Arsenal, but then on top of that I am sure there are other aspects to his game that is transferable from his previous life in sport.”

Invicta Dynamos' head coach Karl Lennon had plenty of respect for visiting netminder Petr Cech Picture: David Trevallion

Brandon Chard marked his return from suspension with an early opening goal for the Mos before Oliver Bronnimann doubled their lead. Stanislav Lascek got some good fortune with the third goal in the second period, scoring in off Cech from behind the goal.

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Lascek added a fourth in the third period before Matty Bell - also back from suspension - wrapped it up at the end.

Lennon said: “It was nice that on their return from suspension both Brandon and Matty got on the scoresheet.

“It was a solid defensive display by ourselves, we shut them down which was great and I think honestly offensively we were pretty poor, we missed a lot of chances that we had.

“Petr Cech played very well, absolutely he did well, but we didn’t take our chances. We were better with our finishing on the Sunday, oddly, but we were poor defensively as a consequence.”

Sunday in Oxford was a Southern Cup fixture and the Mos went 2-0 up in the first period. Ruskin Springer-Hughes got their opener and Tom Soar claimed the first of his three on the night.

Invicta Dynamos' netminder Matt Friend enjoyed a good performance on Sunday Picture: David Trevallion

Lennon said: “We made a lot of individual errors, turning over pucks where we shouldn’t do in dangerous spaces, giving up opportunities and frustratingly so.

“I asked the guys to pay particular attention to that because we started our back -up netminder Matt Friend. He has done a fantastic job for us and we want to get him some game time and I felt very confident and comfortable that he could do a great job and he absolutely did. At points in the game he kept us in it, he was fantastic.

“I was happy to come out with the win, happy with the way we played? Probably not but at this point in the season you just want the points, so I’m happy with that.

“Those weren’t our best performances, or our most pretty, but they were effective and everyone across the weekend contributed which is a good sign.”

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