Streatham Redskins' skipper Joe Johnston bagged a hat-trick as his charges made it two wins in a row by beating Bracknell Hornets 5-2 in Brixton.

The win opens up a seven-point gap at the bottom of the table between Redskins and bottom club Solent & Gosport Devils, with Milton Keynes Thunder samdwiched in between.

Johnston said: "We knew we had to build on the win against Milton Keynes as we have a tough run of fixtures coming up. The guys are starting to click and we are working hard in training to rectify the errors that were costing us points.

"All of the guys were buzzing in the locker room and it is a good place to be at the minute."

Handing a debut to returning forward Gennadi Yufit, the Redskins were once again without Joe Allen and Tyrone Miller through injury.

Bracknell had beaten Streatham in the last game between the pair back in October, however the Londoners came into the game full of confidence after a morale boosting victory over Milton Keynes the previous weekend.

This confidence was well founded as Streatham took the lead with under a minute played.

Jakub Klima slid the puck across to Johnston and the local boy fired high into the far top corner of the net past a stranded George Stafford-Webb.

Despite this good start and some real pressure by the Redskins, it was Bracknell who got the equaliser with 10 minutes played as Peter Jasik latched onto a mistake and skated down one on one with Redskins goalie Stefan Nubert.

Nubert made the first save but Jasik finished his own rebound to make it
1-1 at the end of the first period.

Bracknell started the second period the stronger as they exerted pressure on the Redskins defence.

They got their reward with three minutes gone as Ryan Webb passed the puck to Danny Hughes on the left wing and his slapshot zipped past Nubert and into the top corner of the net.

It was harsh on Streatham but the home side did not crumble. Dom Hopkins and Adam Mahoney both went close to getting a goal back straight away but both were denied by some last ditch defending by the Hornets rearguard.

The breakthrough came shortly afterwards as a pass from Dave Carr was tipped on by Stevie Balmer to the speedy Liam Rasmussen, and he skated hard down the right wing and behind the Hornets defence before calmly slotting home.

Eight minutes later, Streatham took the lead as Johnston got his second of the night poking home a loose puck on the powerplay to send the home fans into raptures.

The game began to get a bit feisty with Bracknell’s Richard Wojciack and Streatham’s Jamie McIlroy both given 10-minute misconduct calls by referee Blaine Evans.

The third period was finely balanced with Streatham holding a 3-2 lead but thankfully for the nerves of the home support, the Redskins got some breathing space as Klima and Johnston linked up beautifully before the latter skated through and fired past Stafford-Webb.

This early goal sucked the wind out of the Hornets and seven minutes later Johnston turned provider to Klima and the Czech made sure of the points as he rounded the Hornets goalie and finished into the empty net.

The 5-2 scoreline gave Streatham a much-needed two points in the league and man of the match was awarded to Streatham’s Johnston for an excellent hat trick.

Streatham face a double header this weekend, travelling to Cardiff Devils on Saturday, before a trip to Solent & Gosport Devils on Sunday.