Lee Valley Lions were on the losing side once again as they went down 10-1 to mid-table Bracknell Hornets in Wilkinson South 2.

Over half of the Lions’ roster were unavailable for this game, giving them just ten skaters and only two lines each of forwards and defence, while the Hornets were able to ice an almost full roster of 19 skaters.

Gus Zimmerman scored the only Lions goal of the game in the third period, with Bracknell already having scored nine by that point.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors started strongly, showing good discipline in defence, and were thankful to Steve Grout in goal for coming up with some big saves.

However, in the 16th minute, the Hornets broke the deadlock as Ben Ealey-Newman grabbed the only goal of the first period.

The Lions fell apart after the first interval as the hosts hit eight unanswered goals between the 24th and 40th minutes.

Danny Hughes got three, Ealey-Newman added to his tally, and Adam Bicknell, Connor Hutchinson, Luke Jackson and Jack Ealey-Newman got on the scoresheet.

The visitors recovered slightly in the final period and finally recorded a goal as Zimmerman, assisted by James Joseph and Simon Jones, buried past Rory Edwards, but they could not prevent the score from going into double figures as Ealey-Newman completed his hat-trick with Bracknell’s 10th and final goal.

The Lions return to the Lee Valley Ice Centre for their next game as they host league leaders Slough Jets, with faceoff at 5.30pm this Saturday.