Photo (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 3-2 Raiders IHC (NIHL
By Matthew Church
Saturday 4th December 2021
Refs: Brooks and Matthews – Linos: Gottlibet and Sore
With Christmas only a few weeks away, the GalxC Cooling Services-sponsored Basingstoke Bison were hoping for a joyous beginning to the festive season by ending their winless streak, as they welcomed the Romford-based Raiders IHC to town. With both teams missing a couple of players to injury, the battle would be one of attrition and concentration.
(c) Jo Loat
Keen to return to winning ways, loyal fans of the Herd were pleased to see their side kill off an early Holding penalty on Jay King before immediately going onto the powerplay themselves, when James Hounsome took a seat for Slashing at 5:03. Those same loyal home fans were far more than pleased at 5:27 as the Bison opened the scoring thanks to the most experienced player on the ice, when Ashley Tait (assisted by Adam Jones and Zack Milton) fired a wrist shot from distance which sailed past an unsighted Ethan James in the Raiders’ net for a 1-0 lead. Not long after, the visitors would find themselves once again short-handed as Rio Grinell-Parke was assessed an Interference penalty at 8:01, handing the Bison a golden opportunity to double their lead which they took with both hands. Sustained pressure in the Raiders’ zone resulted in a frantic goal-mouth scramble which required a calm mind and Aidan Doughty (Milton, Tait) duly obliged, poking home the puck at 8:53 to the delight of the Herd faithful and putting his team 2-0 in front with another powerplay goal, a lead which would remain intact as the game entered the 1st break.
The opening half of the middle frame saw each side working hard to create chances but with little reward, although the Bison were forced into rearguard action multiple times as they fell foul of the officials’ wrath. The first two occasions saw the Herd keep their opposition at bay, but finally, on their third powerplay of the period, pressure paid off as the Raiders struck lucky and scored their first goal of the game. Power forward Jake Sylvester (Relf, Sladkovsky) was placed slightly to the left side of the Bison net but expertly deflected the puck home at 32:48, to the relief of the travelling Raiders fans, leaving his team a single goal behind.
An unfortunate feature in Bison games of late, is the habit of conceding goals in bunches and that was to happen once again in this contest, as less than two minutes later, the Raiders had levelled the scoreline. A breakdown in play, followed by a series of slick passes between the visitors left James Hounsome (Pitchley, Barry) with space in front of netminder Mettam to fire home with precision at 34:31 and bring the scoreline back to 2-2, a goal which capped a fine performance by the young forward.
Panic? What panic? Only a week ago, Liam Morris arguably scored a contender for goal of the season and whilst it would be almost impossible to beat, his goal this week would prove far more important in the overall result. Having broken up ice and stood on the right wing with support yet to arrive, Morris (Doughty, King) decided to go it alone and used a sudden burst of speed to sprint inside laterally past 2 Raiders skaters before ripping the puck through James’ 5-hole at 38:01, to sheer ecstasy in the stands and on the bench as well, leaving his side 3-2 ahead and the second intermission arrived.
(C) Jo Loat
A final period would see the Bison solely focused on trying to keep their precious lead and hold onto two vital points, whilst the away side were on the offensive and heavily out-shooting the home team. A single penalty on each side respectively saw both the Herd and the Raiders mainly limited to 5-on-5 opportunities and despite seeing less of the puck, the Bison were nullifying the threat to good effect. Tense faces and biting of fingernails filled the final few minutes but thankfully for everyone involved with the Herd, the final buzzer sounded and a morale-boosting 3-2 victory was their reward as the team poured onto the ice to celebrate together!
Bison MOM: Elliott Dewey – Raiders MOM: Callum Wells
Bison stats: Doughty 1+1, Milton 0+2, Tait 1+1, Jones 0+1, King 0+1, Morris 1+0.
Netminder: Alex Mettam 30/2 (93.33%)
Raiders stats: Barry 0+1, Hounsome 1+0, Pitchley 0+1, Relf 0+1, Sladkovsky 0+1, Sylvester 1+0.
Netminder: Ethan James 24/3 (87.50%)
PIM: Bison 22 – Raiders 8. SOG: Bison 24 – Raiders 30.
Next up at home for the Bison, a visit from the Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday 11th December, when supporters of both teams are being asked to donate food items for the Basingstoke Food Bank.
