Photo (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 1-5 Milton Keynes Lightning (League)
By Matthew Church
Wednesday 23rd February 2022
Refs: Bicknell and Jarvie – Linos: Gottlibet and Olczak
Fans of the Herd were treated to some midweek action as the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison welcomed the Milton Keynes Lightning to town on Wednesday night for their final league visit of the season.
The Bison began well and certainly looked the more threatening team during the first period, forcing netminder Matthew Smital into countless saves and despite giving up a number of rebounds, the Herd were unable to put themselves ahead on the scoreboard.
A handful of penalties across the opening 20 minutes saw the Bison with a powerplay opportunity, however, the Lightning held firm and the game remained goalless as the first period break began.
Thankfully for fans of the Bison, it took less than two minutes of the middle frame for their side to finally take the lead when Aidan Doughty (assisted by George Norcliffe) took a pass from behind the net and swept home from a tight angle at 21:30 for a 1-0 advantage. Following on from this, the Herd would concede consecutive penalties and the second of those would result in the Lightning scoring an equaliser at 28:00, as Bobby Chamberlain (Stewart, Jamieson) collected a rebound close to net before tucking home.
A 1-1 game would have been a fair scoreline after 40 minutes of action but disaster struck for the Bison as 13 seconds of madness saw them enter the second period break two goals down.
At 39:47 a stretch pass in behind the Bison defence saw Liam Stewart (Talbot) race towards the net before sniping past Lawday for a 1-2 advantage. Then, at 40:00 a goal right on the buzzer from Lewis Christie (Laishram, Stewart) caught the Bison players and fans by total surprise and after deliberation by the officials, it was confirmed to have been a legitimate goal.
This left the Herd with a mountain to climb in the final frame and there remained hope of a comeback in the opening minutes. However, at 45:54 a former Bison player would kill off that hope by scoring a fourth goal for the Lightning. Russ Cowley (Power, Barnes-Garner) found a bouncing puck amongst a mess of players and shot into the Bison net for a 1-4 lead. A fractious atmosphere boiled over at 48:03 when Liam Morris of the Herd, along with Norris, Talbot and Laishram of the Lightning were involved in a scrap, with the Bison being handed a full two minute 5-on-3 powerplay.
Lacking a clinical touch for most of the night, the home side were unable to convert and shortly afterwards, were made to pay once againas Sean Norris (Christie, Stewart) sped down the left wing before cutting in and squeezing the puck past netminder Lawday at 52:03, extending the advantage to 1-5.
A late scrap between Jay King and Hallden Barnes-Garner did little to change the overall result and as the final buzzer sounded, the Herd were left disappointed with a game that had started so promisingly, and yet ended without joy.
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Doughty 1+0, Norcliffe 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 28/5 (82.14%)
Lightning stats: Stewart 1+3, Christie 1+1, Barnes-Garner 0+1, Chamberlain 1+0, Cowley 1+0, Jamieson 0+1, Laishram 0+1, Norris 1+0, Power 0+1, Talbot 0+1
Netminder: Matthew Smital 42/1 (97.62%)
PIM: Bison 21 – Lightning 30. SOG: Bison 42 – Lightning 28.
Bison MOM: Elliott Dewey – Lightning MOM: Matthew Smital
