Oxford City Stars went down 4-2 to Streatham Redskins in their English National League South Division opener at Oxford Ice Rink.

With new coach Darryl Morvan taking charge for his first game, Stars struggled to get going against their more experienced opponents in the first period.

And Redskins took advantage of greater possession to open the scoring in the 14th minute when captain Wayne Trunchion danced through the Oxford defence to shoot into the top corner.

Stars fell further behind three minutes later when Steve Paris slid in the rebound after Perry Richardson's shot was saved.

With the home fans providing plenty of vocal support, Oxford pulled a goal back four minutes into the second period.

Dean Francis, last season's leading scorer, got off the mark for this campaign assisted by captain Darren Elliott and Dave Carr.

However, Redskins quickly silenced the home crowd by restoring their two-goal cushion a minute later when Joe Johnston buried a low snap-shot.

Three minutes later, Johsnton struck again with a shot into the top corner after a clever set-up from Trunchion and Shane Walsh.

To add to Stars' problems they then lost Andy Cox with a collar-bone injury which saw him later taken to hospital.

With Cox out of the game, Morvan changed the first line to three forwards - Francis, Darren Elliott and Easy Chalmers.

And this combination provided Stars' second goal, Chalmers netting with assists going to Francis and Elliott.

Oxford enjoyed the upper hand in the final period, and could have snatched a draw, but missed two open-goal shots.