CARL Greenhous described the Invicta Dynamos ice hockey team's 4-4 draw with Milton Keynes Lightning as the best 60 minutes of hockey he has seen in a good while.

The player-coach was delighted with his team as they proved to be the equals of the English National Premier League leaders, coming back from two goals down.

He said: “That was 60 minutes of exciting hockey and I'm really proud of the team.

“From last week’s poor performance we turned it around in terms of commitment, attitude and work rate. We created a lot of chances as we shuffled the lines, stacking the first with offensive players who responded with three of the four goals.

“Duane Ward had a good game and delivered some key goals, and the best thing is there’s still more to come from him.”

A special mention must go to both netminders who made several inspired saves to keep the scores down, especially Mos’ Matt Van Der Velden in the second period.

Man of the match Ward not only scored two, but also was the team’s main creator setting up Elliott Andrews who had his shot saved by Barry Hollyhead early on.

Former Mo Mikko Skinnari opened the scoring on 7.00 when he picked up a poor defensive clearance, skated in unchallenged and lfired home.

Ninety seconds later Lightning almost doubled their lead when Nick Poole broke away, but Van Der Velden pulled off his first of many excellent saves to deny him.

A break by Matt Beveridge at 10.59 saw him on the wrong end of a high stick by Skinnari, who received two-minute penalty.

The first powerplay of the night was duly converted within 30 seconds when Ward blasted home after neat work by Andrews and Beveridge.

Another Lightning penalty at 16.03 on Jeff O'Hara for interference backfired on Invicta when Phil Chard’s slapshot cannoned off the shins of Gary Clarke who broke quickly with Michael Knights with the latter scoring a shorthanded goal.

Clarke capitalised on another lapse in defence to make it 3-1, muscling his way through to lay it on a plate for Pool to tap in.

The second period was all about the outstanding reflexes of Van Der Velden. The home stopper was magnificent in a one-on-one, darting out a glove to pluck a Skinnari shot out of the air.

He also stood tall when Dean Campbell found himself all alone in front of the crease and saved the blushes of his skipper saving another one-on-one after Chard had the puck nicked off him by Poole.

His heroics ensured that the Mos went into the third period with all to play for.

Mos needed an early goal to get back into the game and Ward was the man, his strength, persistence and quick hands allowing him to prod home his own rebound at 43.48.

Invicta tied the game 74 seconds later when Paul Hume passed the puck from behind the net and Stuart Low got a cheeky touch to squeeze it inside the post.

Mos were flying and Jake French had a shot well saved before harshly being sent to the bench, two minutes for holding.

Lightning took full advantage of their only powerplay, and Van Der Velden showed a rare weakness when he allowed Skinnari's shot to bounce out of his catcher mitt and over the line.

It would have been cruel if this goal decided the game, but the Mos weren't finished and Beveridge with two on the overlap dummied the pass and instead took the shot. The rebound fell to captain Chard who finished with a real rocket.

Fittingly it was Van Der Velden who made sure the Mos got their deserved point as he saved well from Clarke before getting his shoulder in the way of a great Poole effort.

An enjoyable night was rounded off with a surprise appearance by Mike Kindred who handed out the man of the match awards - hopefully a sign that last season's players’ player of the year is finally ready to lace up those skates again.