Storm were short of several experienced players while Guildford brought a short bench bristling with talent, warming up for the National Championships.

Tom Mboya set up Jacob Heron to open the scoring after 3m 25s but Guildford struck back twice in reply at 6m 46s and 14m 25s before adding a third on 15m 32s on the first shift of the second period.

This left Storm with a mountain to climb but to their credit they stuck to the task and Mitch Starkey broke up another Guildford attack with a pass to Heron who rorared through to score at 16m 44s.

The champions re-established a two goal lead on 18m 13s but again Milton Keynes bounced back with Josh Nicklin scoring from a narrow angle at 18m 20s from a Jamie Miller pass.

Guildford looked the most threatening side and on the powerplay they increased the pressure, finally breaking down the Storm rearguard at 27mi 24s for their fifth goal – the puck trickling agonisingly over the goal line.

In the third period Storm were secure and confident in defence but were unable to create many chances to score.