OXFORD City Stars slipped to fifth in English National League South Division 1 after crashing to two big defeats.

On both occasions they were made to suffer in the latter stages.

Stars went down 7-4 at London Raiders – despite looking well set earlier in the match.

Ben Ealey-Newman fired them ahead with 90 seconds to go in the first period, although Raiders immediately hit back to lead 2-1.

A Darren Elliott power play goal for City meant it was still only 3-2 to Raiders at the end of the second period, but then Marek Nahlik took over for the London club, hitting a hat-trick in the third period as they scored four times.

An Andrew Cox strike and a second from Ealey-Newman kept the score respectable.

And 24 hours later, Stars were beaten 8-3 by Streatham Redskins at Oxpens.

They bounced back from conceding in ten seconds, to an Evander Grinell strike, to lead 3-1 after the first period, thanks to two efforts from Joe Edwards, and a power play goal from Shane Moore.

But then Streatham went into overdrive to run away with the match and end up comfortable winners.

They struck four unanswered goals in the second period, and three more in the third period, despite the ejection of Ryan Giles on 44 minutes for a headbutt.

Redskins moved into second place in the table with the victory, while Stars are left to lick their wounds.

They are without a match this weekend, and return to the ice on Saturday, December 12, when they take on Invicta Dynamos.