Invicta Dynamos ended last weekend’s action on a high with an over-time winner against Chelmsford Chieftains scored by a debutant.

Regan O’Neil stepped into the Dynamos team on Saturday and picked up the man-of-the-match award in a narrow Southern Cup defeat against the Chieftains before hitting the winning goal in the NIHL South Division 1 fixture against the same opposition on the Sunday.

O’Neil is expected to be back with the Invicta Mustangs this weekend but head coach Karl Lennon was grateful for his involvement over the past weekend. The Dynamos were missing Aaron Strawson to illness, while Tom Soar is out with a collarbone injury and Ruskin Springer-Hughes has a hand fracture.

“The guys who stepped up to the roster had a great weekend, they filled the spaces really well,” said the coach, who was back on the ice himself in Sunday’s game.

“Regan was outstanding both days, he had a Gordie Howe hat-trick on Saturday [a goal, an assist and a fight] and won on all levels, then on Sunday he got the overtime winner!

“He plays for the Mustangs on a full-time basis, they didn’t have a game so he could play both games for us at the weekend which was very fortuitous, and he did great. It was incredible.”

O’Neil’s winner came 26 seconds into overtime after Sunday's game had finished 5-5.

Young netminder Tyler De La Bertouche, who is just 16 and on a two-way deal with Peterborough Phantoms, played on Sunday and pulled off a great save moments before the Mos won it.

“He was immaculate the whole game,” said the coach. “Very good for someone so young and he made a big save right at the start before we broke down the other end and Regan put it in the top corner and the game was done.”

Prior to that, goals had been scored by Richard Harris (2), Stanislav Lascek, Tom Davis and Juraj Huska.

It was a welcome win after losing to the Chieftains the day before, 6-5. That was despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first period. Josh Condren was back with the Mos on Saturday to bolster the squad, having spent two spells with the club previously, helping them to the play-off trophy success in 2017.

Lennon said: “We started well and felt like we were good for a big win again [Mos beat them 12-3 the previous weekend] and slowly but surely they fought their way back into the game, then once they had got one and two and then a third, the confidence in the team drained a little and they worried about what the opposition were doing rather than focussing on what they should be doing as players.

“We fought back in the third but it was a little too late, a shame of course, but we have to learn from mistakes and we put it to rights on Sunday where we did learn and we focused throughout the game. The boys did a sterling job with their effort and application again, it was a really hard-fought game, fortunate to come out on top with a last-gasp over-time winner which was great, the ideal way to end the weekend.

“After the disappointment of Saturday, to put it right on the Sunday was brilliant, and in their rink as well!”

Having players like O’Neil available from the Mustangs is massive for the Dynamos, with Lennon saying: “For me, if you want to be successful, we have to believe in not just the two teams we have, Invicta Dynamos and Invicta Mustangs, it is Invicta. The focus on local for me has always been affective because people care about their club and what is going on, they are part of the community. It is really important to have that and it has worked for us so far, long may it continue.”

Condren, meanwhile, is back with the Mos to help out during a spell of injuries. He’ll play as and when needed,

“It was great to have him back as injury cover,” said the coach. “We intended to sign Josh in the summer but his work commitments meant he couldn’t always play, which is a shame for us. He played Saturday, next weekend he is with us, which is great. He is on a more flexible basis on injury basis while we have injuries to Tom and Ruskin.”

Next up for the Mos is a South Division 1 match at Streatham, on Saturday. There is no home fixture this weekend. De La Bertouche and O’Neil aren’t expected to be available against the Red Hawks.

Streatham were 11-3 winners when the Dynamos met them in their first game of this season. Lennon hopes it will be different this time around.

“We will have to be completely on our game to get anything out of that one,” Lennon said.

“It was our first game, we hadn’t had any pre-season friendlies which didn’t help, but we were in the game up until the third period, the learnings from that and the fitness that has come in over recent weeks will help.

"We go into that game in a different space than the first one, it has to be a better showing from us this weekend.”

*The Invicta Mustangs are at home this Saturday, at Gillingham’s Planet Ice, up against Haringey Huskies. The puck drops at 5.15pm.