Losses push Thunder outside playoff places

Two losses have pushed the Dunedin Thunder outside the playoff positions.

It was beaten 6-2 and 5-2 by the national league defending champion West Auckland Admirals in Auckland over the weekend.

Two goals within a minute of each other gave the Admirals a quick jump on Sunday.

A brilliant individual effort from Tamas Laday produced the first. He cut through the middle of the Thunder defence and made no mistake in scoring the first.

Nicholas Henderson made it 2-0 shortly after, scoring after receiving the puck following a David Nippard counterattack down the left.

Nippard scored himself midway through the second period, this time going all the way on a counterattack to make it 3-0.

The Thunder hit back via Paris Heyd, although Dylan Dickson answered quickly to make sure the deficit remained at three.

Benjamin Harford closed the gap to 4-2 midway through the final period.

But it was as close as the Thunder got.

Henderson netted his second late in the piece to give the Admirals the win.

That followed Saturday's loss in which the Thunder trailed by two goals at the first break.

While it got the score back to 3-2, a late goal in the second period paved way for the Admirals to run away to a convincing win.

The losses leaves the Thunder in fourth spot on 10 points, having played 10 games.

The Stampede, which had a bye, tops the table on 21 points from eight games.

The Admirals moved to second on 19 points, although they have played 12 games.

The Botany Swarm, which claimed two handy wins over the Canterbury Red Devils, are in third on 18 points from eight games.

The Thunder and Stampede meet this weekend, the first match on Friday night at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.

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