Images (c) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 1-5 Bristol Pitbulls (League)
By Matthew Church
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Refs: Jarvie and Poulton – Linos: Davies and Olczak
After a weekend on the road, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison were back in home action as they welcomed the Bristol Pitbulls to town for a midweek clash, with the Herd looking to return to winning ways.
The visitors looked sharp early on and took the lead less than three minutes into the game, as Owen Sobchak (assisted by Robertson and Solder) collected the puck in front of goal after a fortuitous deflection and fired home at 2:33. Not to be disheartened, the Bison fought back and equalised at 8:22 through Zac Milton (Balaz, King), as he found space by the right circle and used a Pitbulls player as a screen to shoot through traffic past netminder Will Kerlin, making the score 1-1. An even scoreline would have reflected the quality of the play heading into the first intermission, however, Caly Robertson (E.Bradley) took advantage of sloppy defending to score from in close at 16:11 and ensure his Bristol side would lead 1-2 after the opening 20 minutes.
The Herd pressed on in the early stages of the middle period, searching for another equaliser but disaster struck when they were caught out by a Pitbulls breakaway and despite a miraculous save by Jordan Lawday, the visitors moved 1-3 ahead at 27:10 when Bailey Hind-Pitcher (Lewis, Kelly) slotted the rebound home. No matter what the Bison threw at the Pitbulls, netminder Will Kerlin repelled it all with a fantastic display that kept his side in front and allowed them to attack on the break, as they seemed happy to soak up pressure and frustrate the home team.
No further goals in the period left the Bison players and fans alike feeling perplexed at how they could be two goals behind after 40 minutes, meaning a huge effort in the final period was required.
Two goals inside one minute early in the third frame could have left the Herd jumping for joy, if only the goals had gone their way. Instead, the Pitbulls effectively killed off the game before the 45 minutes mark with superb counter-attacking play. Firstly, at 43:09, Reece Kelly (Robertson) extended the away side’s lead to 1-4 courtesy of a cracking one-time shot from the left side of goal. Then at 43:48, before the Herd had been given a chance to regroup, Caly Robertson (Roberts, E.Bradley) capped off a brilliant evening for himself by scoring his second of game, gliding into space and wristing the puck cleanly past Lawday in net, moving the Pitbulls 1-5 in front. At this point, the Bison swapped netminders as Alex Mettam replaced Lawday in goal and Head Coach Ashley Tait began giving the two young forwards of Ollie Hemmings-Maher and Roman Cathcart significantly more ice time, which gave the home crowd something to cheer about.
Ultimately, it did little to rescue the game for the Herd and they were left to accept being second-best as the Bristol-based side took a deserved 1-5 victory home with them. Thankfully, the Bison can try to bounce back almost immediately as they welcome the Slough-based Bees IHC to town this Saturday. See you all there!
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Balaz 0+1, King 0+1, Milton 1+0
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 13/18 (72.22%) – Alex Mettam 5/5 (100.00%)
Pitbulls stats: Robertson 2+2, E.Bradley 0+2, Kelly 1+1, Hind-Pitcher 1+0, Lewis 0+1, Roberts 0+1, Sobchak 1+0, Solder 0+1
Netminder: Will Kerlin 34/35 (97.14%)
PIM: Bison 33 – Pitbulls 8.
SOG: Bison 35 – Pitbulls 23.
Bison MOM: Norcliffe – Pitbulls MOM: Robertson
Tickets are selling fast for Saturday nights M3 rivals encounter and can be purchased by clicking the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
