Romford Raiders captain Jack Cooper hailed his team's efforts in their opening game of the 2024-25 season.

A new-look side skated to a 6-3 win over defending National League play-off champions Peterborough at the Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre, in front of a good-sized first-night crowd.

And Cooper, having succeeded Aaron Connolly as skipper, was impressed by the way things gelled under new player-coach Adam Laishram.

"I thought we played brilliant," said Cooper.

"Considering how many new faces we have, we looked like a team that had been playing together for years.

"Very exciting times ahead for the club."

Jake Sylvester pounced on a loose puck to open the scoring with barely a minute played, before Tommy Huggett deflected Elliott Dewey's shot from the left point past Peterborough's import goalie Hayden Lavigne.

The visitors rallied to level before the first break, but Andrew Shewfelt cut in from the left wing to score on his backhand and put Raiders 3-2 up, before Sylvester slipped home his second of the night.

Shaun Miller teed up fellow Canadian Laishram for a close-range finish to make it 5-2, with Jacob Ranson blasting home from a tight angle for a sixth in front of the Clock End.

Phantoms replied with a late consolation, but gained revenge on home ice the following night.

Raiders, without defenceman Tom Relf and Marco Pascale, fell behind to a powerplay goal late in the first period.

Phantoms struck twice in just over two minutes towards the end of the middle session to go 3-0 up, then netted twice in 30 seconds early in the final stanza.

Laishram called a timeout to settle his side, before the hosts sealed a 6-0 win.

But Cooper found positives in defeat, adding: "Sunday we knew was going to be a completely different game.

"Peterborough is a very tough place to play and we went there without two of our starting D-men.

"It was great for the two-ways to get loads of ice time and in a league none of them have played before. They all stepped up and did their part."

Raiders visit Connolly's Invicta Dynamos on Saturday, then host a return a day later in their final challenge match before the regular season begins.

And Cooper, who now has 454 appearances to his name, is looking for Raiders to build momentum.

"It only feels like yesterday I was the rookie stepping into the team, but now I’m one of the oldest and closing in on 500 games for the club," he said.

"Time really does fly, hopefully I can continue to share my experience with the youngsters that are stepping up.

"I'm looking forward to this weekend to see some of the guys I’ve spent many years with.

"It’ll also be a good weekend for us a team to be able to work on the mistakes we made this weekend and give us the ability to try new things.

"I’m sure Invicta will give us a good game regardless."