Photo (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 5-2 Bees IHC (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 26th February 2022
Refs: Jarvie and Matthews – Linos: Gottlibet and Sitch-Cunningham
For the third time within a week, it was hockey-at-home for the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison as the Herd welcomed their arch-rivals Bees IHC, formerly from Bracknell, to Planet Ice Basingstoke.
Looking to bounce back from consecutive home defeats, the Herd knew that a quick start was paramount to settle any nerves inside the arena, which meant that conceding the opening goal after just 68 seconds was far from ideal.
A shot from the far right side deflected upwards and fell back down behind netminder Alex Mettam before being bundled home by James Galazzi (assisted by Ryan Webb and Harvey Stead) for a 0-1 lead to the away side.
The Bison managed to navigate a penalty on Brendan Baird for Interference before deservedly bringing themselves back level at 6:50 through Aidan Doughty (Norcliffe, Baird), who was parked in front of the net to tap home after George had blasted down the right wing.
When Harvey Stead picked up a penalty late in the opening frame, it provided the Bison with a perfect chance to establish their first lead of the game and whilst they were unable to convert on the powerplay, five seconds later the home team did indeed go ahead and in some style too.
(C) Jo Loat
A quick-thinking Alex Mettam took advantage of a slow Bees line change and fired the puck up ice to Adam Harding (Mettam, Tait) who was waiting by the blue line alone, before honing in on netminder Adam Goss and firing into the net with precision for a 2-1 lead at 17:08 which would remain unchanged as the teams left for the first period break.
In a complete reversal of the opening frame, it would be the Bison who began the middle period brightest and they extended their lead so quickly, some fans heading back to their seats may have missed it!
A stretch pass from the defensive zone saw the Herd break 2-on-1 with import-forward Alex Roberts (Tait, Dewey) deciding to go for glory and being rewarded as his quick release went through Goss and into the net at 20:23, to the delight of the home crowd as the Herd made it a 3-1 game.
Back-to-back penalties on the visitors saw their night threaten to unravel with speed, however, they stood firm and duly brought themselves back into the contest at 28:10 courtesy of talented youngster Juha Lindgren (W.Stead, Kelly) with a neat finish.
Thankfully for the Bison faithful, that would be as good as it got for the opposition and a penalty on Zaine McKenzie at 32:16 allowed the Bison to re-establish their dominance on proceedings with extreme efficiency. After winning the face off, a pass backwards towards the blue line was then fired in on goal before Aidan Doughty (Baird, Harding) tipped the puck past a stranded Goss in net at 32:23, just seven seconds into the Herd’s powerplay, to double their lead to 4-2.
A further penalty on each team respectively would not change the scoreline and after Paul Petts had unbelievably hit the post on an open net, after netminder Goss had sent an errant pass his way, the second period buzzer sounded, leaving the Bison in a commanding position.
The final frame was far from a classic as the Bees struggled to carve out any truly dangerous chances, with the Herd content to focus on defence and keeping the away side as far away as possible from Mettam in net. Each team would be handed a powerplay opportunity that would ultimately go unpunished, until with 2:48 remaining on the clock a Hooking penalty on Joey Baird would allow the Bison to finish off the 5-star performance in style.
(C) Jo Loat
Using the man-advantage to perfection once again, Aidan Doughty (Morris, Harding) was on hand at 58:08 to bury a bouncing puck home from dead in front of the Bees’ net and complete a marvellous hat-trick, as the Herd faithful stood to applaud him.
The final buzzer went off and the Bison went on, to the ice, to celebrate a remarkably drama-free 5-2 derby victory! Next up at home for the Herd, is a visit from the Romford-based Raiders IHC on Saturday 5th March. See you there!
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Doughty 3+0, Harding 1+2, Baird 0+2, Tait 0+2, Dewey 0+1, Mettam 0+1, Morris 0+1, Norcliffe 0+1, Roberts 1+0
Netminder: Alex Mettam 23/2 (91.30%)
Bees stats: Galazzi 1+0, Kelly 0+1, Lindgren 1+0, Webb 0+1, H.Stead 0+1, W.Stead 0+1,
Netminder: Adam Goss 35/5 (85.71%)
PIM: Bison 6 – Bees 26. SOG: Bison 35 – Bees 23.
Bison MOM: Ollie Stone – Bees MOM: Edward Bradley
