Lions 8 Slough Jets 13

Lions: Mallet (n/m), Carson, Beeson, Crosse, Myles, Go, Berry, Irish, Peach, Fedotovas, Hatful, Gosling, Hodge, Joseph, Bishop, Ball, Grout (n/m)
A big effort from the Lions in the season opener, scoring 8 times, only to see a late burst from the Jets see the visitors take the points.
The game was tied at 7-7 early in the final period when Scott Beeson netted his fourth of the night, but three quick goals from Slough opened up what had been a tight match. 
The Jets had led the match 4-1 at the end of the first period, Beeson scoring after two minutes for Lee Valley, before a burst of scoring from the Jets seemed to give them a confortable lead, which may well have been worse not for some great stops by netminder Aaron Mallet. 
But the second period belonged to the Lions. A short-handed Beeson breakaway effort in the first minute of the second period, followed by his hat-trick goal a few minutes later, after a great move in front of the net by Romanas Fedotovas, pulled the Lions back into the game. Fedotovas, who had set up all three of Beeson’s goals, then latched onto Phil Carson’s pass to level the scores. Joe Berry then put the Lions ahead in the ninth minute of the period. 
Lions Youngster Josh Irish also netted in the second, assisted by Adam Peach, and although the Jets pulled two goals back, the Lions thought they’d gone in level at 7-7 when Beeson found the back of the net again, only for the officials to rule that the puck had crossed the line after the buzzer.  
After Beeson’s equaliser early in the final period, the Jets skated away with the game with forwards Zoran Kozic and Stas Prokofiev constantly causing problems. Although Berry added his second, and goalie Mallet made a terrific pad save from a Jets penalty shot, Slough finished strongly.
The Lions will look for their first points of the season when they face the Wightlink Tigers on the Isle of Wight next weekend.