Everyone Active Raiders to work way out of slump says coach

A 5-1 home defeat against Bees IHC and 5-2 reverse against Solway Sharks in Scotland left them with just five points from eight National League outings this season.

And they host Telford Tigers on Saturday, before visiting Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday, with Easton calling their next four fixtures ‘key games’.

“We have the players to win games, it’s about finding that momentum and making some noise to get out of this slump and get on track of what we need,” he said.

“We need to ignore the distractions from within and work our way to that next win.

“The next four games are key games for us to pick up points. One four-point weekend puts us straight back into the season.”

Raiders were left chasing their game with Bees at the Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre last Friday after conceding three goals in a six-minute spell.

Adam Laishram replied early in the final period, but it proved a false dawn as the visitors netted twice more and saw goalie Brython Preece finish with 41 saves.

The team faced an early departure on Saturday morning to travel north of the border and conceded twice inside 10 minutes.

Jake Sylvester’s powerplay goal halved the deficit just before the first break in Dumfries.

And Sylvester combined with Tom Relf to set up Nick Leyer to level early in the second period – leapfrogging Dave Whistle and Frankie Harvey into 10th place in the club’s all-time scoring list with his 278th point in gold and blue.

But the Sharks regained the lead with a powerplay goal and, after moving 4-2 up early in the final frame, struck on another man advantage to record their first win of the campaign.

And Easton was clear on what his side needs to turn things around.

“Right now we are just not getting it done,” he added.

“We are not scoring enough to win a game and leaking way too many goals.

“We have to work harder to find our confidence.

“We need a heartbeat in the team as too many times it goes flat and there are too many passengers copying the trend.

“We need to start with one vocal heartbeat that’s going to strap the team on their back and move forward.

“We need to work harder as individuals to get the job done, it’s just too nice and soft now and that’s why we are losing.”

Raiders have not been helped by delays with bringing import defenceman Zack Bennett into the UK, though, and a frustrated Easton added: “Zach is still stuck in Canada waiting on his biometrics.

“It’s frustrating for both him and me knowing we have a big part of our defensive core which the team was built around unable to play.

“With other teams able to bring new imports in within the week, it’s a major downer.”