Final score: Basingstoke Bison 3-4 Sheffield Steeldogs (NIHL National League)
By Matthew Church
Photo: (C) Jo Loat
Saturday 30th October 2021
Bison MOM: Zack Milton – Steeldogs MOM: Matt Bissonnette
Bison stats: Milton 2+0, Roberts 0+2, Sutton 0+2, Harding 1+0
Netminder: Alex Mettam 22/4 (81.82%)
Steeldogs stats: Spurr 0+3, Bissonnette 1+1, Hewitt 2+0, Haywood 0+1, Smith 0+1, Thompson 1+0
Netminder: Dmitri Zimozdra 27/3 (88.89%)
PIM: Bison 8 – Steeldogs 4. SOG: Bison 27 – Steeldogs 22
Refs: Belfitt and Matthews – Linos: Lack and MacPhee
A week on from their thrilling victory on home ice against the Raiders IHC, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison welcome the Sheffield Steeldogs to town in the first of back-to-back games against the Dogs. Although the Herd were without Alex Sampford, they looked in fine form early on and arguably had the better of the opening play, with Adam Harding and Adam Jones both seeing chances saved by opposition netminder Dmitri Zimozdra.
Therefore, it came as a disappointment to see the opening goal go the way of the Steeldogs at 7:40, as power forward Matt Bissonnette (assisted by Tim Smith and James Spurr) took a drop pass in his stride and fired past Mettam in net with ease, putting his side 0-1 ahead. Not a single penalty was called during the first period which helped massively to improve the flow of the game and although the Bison worked tirelessly to even the scoreline, they found themselves up against a sturdy defensive unit and went into the first break trailing.
Not for long though! Determined to restore parity as soon as possible, the opening minutes saw plenty of Bison possession and they would finally break through at 21:49 with a sublime goal. The ever nifty Zack Milton (Roberts, Sutton) took a pass through the heart of the visitors and in behind the defence, skating in on net alone before shifting to his backhand and slotting home, to the delight of the home crowd, levelling the scores at 1-1.
(C) Jo Loat
A few minutes later when George Norcliffe was called for Hooking, home fans feared the worst but they need not have worried, as a short-handed goal was about to arrive. The Bison would break 2-on-1 whilst attempting to kill a penalty and with only 2 seconds left on said penalty, Welsh wizard Adam Harding (unassisted) went for glory and slapped the puck with force through Zimozdra in net, handing the home side a 2-1 lead at 26:00. More penalty trouble would plague the Bison and whilst they would kill off multiple penalties against them, the pressure finally told as the Steeldogs equalised at 34:31 thanks to a combination of Elite-level ability, with GB-legend Jason Hewitt (Bissonnette, Spurr) finding space to slip the puck past a stricken Alex Mettam in goal. The 2-2 scoreline would remain unchanged heading into the second intermission.
As the final period began, both sides knew the stakes were high and the next goal could be key. Fortunately, it would be the home side who scored and it came from the same forward line that had given the Bison their opening goal. At 44:52, hard work in the offensive zone ended with a neat pass across the face of goal and Zack Milton (Roberts, Sutton) was well positioned to sweep the puck home for a 3-2 lead. The joy, however, would soon turn to horror as merely 13 seconds later, the Steeldogs were level. A mistake from the Herd in their own defensive zone saw the loose puck fall straight to Charles Thompson (unassisted) at 45:05, who couldn’t believe his luck and calmly poked the puck past a hapless Mettam.
(C) Jo Loat
As hard as they fought, the Herd found a clinical touch lacking as the period progressed and shortly after Adam Harding was penalised for Hooking, the clinical Jason Hewitt (Haywood, Spurr) was left in heaps of space during the powerplay, striding forward before sending a wrist shot clean into the Bison goal at 53:00, to hand the away side a 3-4 lead.
Despite pulling Mettam from goal in the final minute, the Bison were unable to properly set up in the offensive zone and find the equaliser, meaning that as the buzzer sounded they were unfortunately on the wrong end of a 3-4 scoreline.
Next up at home for the Herd, a true grudge match against the Bees IHC (formerly of Bracknell) on Saturday 6th November.
