Photo (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 3-6 Peterborough Phantoms (Playoff Group)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 16th April 2022
Refs: Jarvie and Matthews – Linos: O’Neill and Prior
Following on from the opening round of playoff group game fixtures, where all four teams in the Herd’s group picked up 2 points and the away side emerged victorious from each contest, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison looked to remain in the hunt for a POFW spot as they welcomed Peterborough Phantoms to town.
The visitors play a certain style of hockey which looks to frustrate the Bison, meaning that the home side would need to remain disciplined throughout and they did just that early on, having arguably the better of the opening minutes. A lapse in concentration late on in the period, however, saw the Phantoms take the lead after intercepting a cross ice pass, with Jasper Foster (assisted by Robson and Billing) ripping home at 15:55. Conceding goals in bunches has been a fault of the Bison this season and disaster would strike once again as the visitors doubled their lead less than 1 minute later, as import Ales Padelek (unassisted) finished off a messy play from the side of the net at 16:36, to put his side 0-2 ahead at the first period break.
With momentum firmly on their side, the Phantoms took advantage of a penalty on Liam Morris to extend their lead to 0-3 at 23:00 exactly, using the extra space well before Glenn Billing (Speirs, Padelek) fired home for a powerplay goal. Tensions boiled over shortly afterwards, with Hallam Wilson and Liam Morris of the Bison, plus Jasper Foster and Nathan Pollard of the Phantoms, all picking up five-minute Fighting penalties.
The home crowd hoped this might spark the Herd into life but unfortunately, the away side moved further ahead at 28:37 with another powerplay tally, this time courtesy of Jarvis Hunt (Stepanek) for a 0-4 lead. Less than 30 seconds later, the Bison team and fans alike were left stunned as the Phantoms put themselves 0-5 in front when Duncan Speirs (Norton) tucked home with ease at 29:06, which saw the home team switch netminders to try and change their luck.
On the ropes and knowing a miracle was needed, the Bison began their fightback at 35:40 as they finally scored their first goal of the night, with import forward Alex Roberts (Dewey, Morris) breaking across the opposition blue line before using the defenceman as a screen and rifling home past Jordan Marr. The Herd had time before the second period ended to bring themselves to 2-5 behind with a goal at 38:51, as Alex Sampford (Petts, Roberts) took advantage of tired Phantoms’ legs which had just killed off a 5-on-3 powerplay, slamming home at the near post to leave the home crowd with a slight sense of hope after 40 minutes.
The Bison killed off an early penalty on Brendan Baird in the final period, before going on a powerplay of their own when Jarvis Hunt was sent to the penalty box. At 47:42 the home side pulled themselves to within two goals as the ever-hustling George Norcliffe (Tait, Mettam) took a pass into his stride and moved forward before sending a laser past Marr in net for a 3-5 scoreline.
Unfortunately, this is as close as the Herd would get before hopes of a miraculous comeback were shut down. The Phantoms scored their sixth goal, in controversial fashion, at 51:18 when Scott Robson (Billing, Speirs) was credited with a goal following a scrum in the crease around netminder Alex Mettam. The home side were unable to rescue the game in the final minutes, leaving the Herd to accept a tough 3-6 defeat.
Thankfully, the Bison had an immediate chance for redemption as they travelled to Peterborough the following night… Next up for the Herd in their final home game of the season, is a clash against the Swindon Wildcats on Saturday 23rd April!
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Roberts 1+1, Dewey 0+1, Mettam 0+1, Morris 0+1, Norcliffe 0+1, Petts 0+1, Sampford 1+0, Tait 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 21/5 (76.19%) Alex Mettam 17/1 (94.12%)
Phantoms stats: Billing 1+2, Speirs 1+2, Padelek 1+1, Robson 1+1, Foster 1+0, Hunt 1+0, Norton 0+1, Stepanek 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Marr 22/3 (86.36%)
PIM: Bison 16 – Phantoms 20. SOG: Bison 22 – Phantoms 38.
Bison MOM: Liam Morris – Phantoms MOM: Ales Padelek
