Photo (C) Liam Church
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 3-4 Peterborough Phantoms (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 19th March 2022
Refs: Jarvie and Matthews – Linos: Gottlibet and Pullar
With only three home games remaining in the 2021/2022 regular season, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison were fighting hard to try and snatch 6th place in the league standings away from tonight’s opposition, the Peterborough Phantoms, meaning that the contest was sure to have some added spice to it.
That spice took less than 5 minutes to kick in as a fracas in front of the Bison bench between Ashley Tait and import Petr Stepanek at 4:45 lead to a wrestling match between the Phantoms forward and Zack Milton who bravely stepped in to defend his teammate from a needless incident.
A few minutes later and all was forgotten when the Bison took a 1-0 lead at 8:38 in some style, with a pass from the right wing finding import Alex Roberts (assisted by Milton and Harding) between the face-off circles and he slammed home an unstoppable shot.
Unfortunately, less than one minute later the Phantoms brought themselves level with a delayed penalty goal from Duncan Speirs (Buglass) at 9:20, after Jay King had been penalised for Slashing.
With the first period winding to a close and both teams feeling like a 1-1 game was a fair reflection of the play so far, it was a pleasant surprise for the home crowd when the Herd re-took the lead at 19:34 thanks to a sublime finish. A speedy break down the left wing saw a centred pass into Liam Morris (Harding, Doughty) who took the puck in stride and burst forward, before firing past Jordan Marr in net to hand the Bison a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
The middle frame was very contrasting to the opener, in that it was full of penalties which at times made the game difficult to follow. The officials appeared to be whistle-happy, which kept the off-ice volunteers in the penalty box very busy, although neither side could convert on the man advantage and the game remained 2-1 as it approached half way.
That was, until a moment of magic occurred with the Bison on the penalty kill, due to a Hooking penalty on Brendan Baird. Defending for their life, the Bison took control of the puck before George Norcliffe fired a pin-point stretch pass down the ice to Adam Harding (Norcliffe, Morris) waiting all alone, before the Welsh-wizard out-manoeuvred netminder Marr and tucked home for a 3-1 lead at 30:38. Fully deserved, the Herd would keep this two-goal cushion intact until the second period buzzer sounded.
A thrilling final period awaited fans of both teams, however, it was the travelling contingent who would be cheering next as the Phantoms reduced their deficit to one, courtesy of a Tom Norton (Robson, Foster) strike at 45:18 as he tipped in a long-range strike past Jordan Lawday in goal.
The game-changing moment came at 50:13 when defenceman Brendan Baird was handed a 5+game penalty for Slashing, much to the bewilderment of the home fans in attendance. With a full five minutes on the man advantage, the Phantoms set about punishing their opponents and pulled themselves level at 52:21 when captain Will Weldon (Norton, Speirs) managed to deflect a shot from the blue line past a stranded Lawday in the Bison net, meaning the scoreline was 3-3 at a highly crucial time.
Sadly for the Herd faithful, the Phantoms would strike for a second time on the major powerplay with a goal that would ultimately prove to be the game winner. Tired legs meant the Bison defence was being overworked and at 54:16, a quick-thinking effort from distance by Glenn Billing (Speirs, Padelek) sailed into the Bison net and put the visitors 3-4 ahead.
A late Hooking penalty on Nathan Pollard at 58:55 handed the home team with one last chance to rescue the game, but they were unable to find the magic touch in the dying seconds and it proved to be an agonising defeat to their bitter rivals.
The Bison may yet get their chance at redemption in a few weeks time, as it appears fairly likely that the Herd and the Phantoms will be placed into the same Playoff group. Therefore, another tasty encounter could be coming our way soon, with even more on the line.
Next up at home for the Bison, a Friday-night clash with the high-flying Swindon Wildcats on March 25th. See you there!
Match Stat’s
Bison stats: Harding 1+2, Morris 1+1, Doughty 0+1, Milton 0+1, Norcliffe 0+1, Roberts 1+0
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 26/4 (84.62%)
Phantoms stats: Speirs 1+2, Norton 1+1, Billing 1+0, Buglass 0+1, Foster 0+1, Padelek 0+1, Robson 0+1, Weldon 1+0
Netminder: Jordan Marr 26/3 (88.46%)
PIM: Bison 39 – Phantoms 16. SOG: Bison 26 – Phantoms 26.
Bison MOM: Liam Morris – Phantoms MOM: Glenn Billing
