Images (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 0-3 Peterborough Phantoms (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 25th February 2023
Refs: Korsaks and Solovjovs – Linos: Cook and MacPhee
For the final time in regular-season action, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison welcomed the high-flying Peterborough Phantoms to town, as the Herd looked to resume their fight for a play-off spot.
During their most recent visit, the Phantoms escaped with a scrappy 1-2 victory in a real tactical battle, with free-flowing hockey at somewhat of a premium and the early stages of this game had the same vibe. The play was end-to-end but neither side found it easy to carve clear scoring chances, until at 6:40 the deadlock was broken by the away side. A neatly worked move saw Martins Susters (assisted by McEwen and Sladkovsky) dangle his way around the defence and netminder Mettam before roofing the puck for a 0-1 lead.
The Herd did well to fight back and went close through both Zac Milton and Marcel Balaz, unfortunately neither could find a way past Jordan Marr in goal. An interesting physical battle between Marcus Mitchell and Joe Gretton threatened to boil over but ultimately never became more than handbags, leaving the visitors one goal ahead after 20 minutes with only 11 shots tallied between the two teams telling the story of how close the game remained.
A pair of early powerplay opportunities for the Phantoms saw them look to double their advantage but the home side defended admirably, killing off the penalties. Still working hard to open their account for the night, the Bison saw George Norcliffe and Jay King go close but not close enough as the Herd grew frustrated at a lack of clinical finishing. Those feelings were soon to be compounded when, during a period of 4-on-4 play, the visitors did double their lead at 29:23, as Tom Norton (Speirs, Billing) blasted home in space from the right circle, with a shot that somehow crept under the netminder’s arm. Increased pressure from the Herd still failed to produce a goal, leaving the Phantoms 0-2 ahead after 40 minutes.
Flying out of the traps in the final period, the Bison increased their level of intent and quality as Sampford, Morris and Norcliffe all went close to scoring the home side’s first goal of the night, but none could solve the riddle of Jordan Marr in net. Then, in almost typical fashion, the visitors sped down the other end and effectively ended the game with their third goal of the contest. Accepting a pass at speed, Jarvis Hunt (Foster, Norton) raced into the offensive zone and sent a bullet past Alex Mettam at 48:19, to move the Phantoms 0-3 in front.
Tensions between the sides boiled over soon afterwards when Jay King and Will Weldon went to battle with the gloves off, with the Bison d-man just about edging it. Unfortunately, the tilt failed to galvanise the home side and bring about a heroic comeback, as the Phantoms expertly saw out the final minutes to claim an impressive away shutout victory.
Match Stats:
Bison stats: N/A
Netminder: Mettam 17/20 (85.00 %)
Phantoms stats: Norton 1+1, Billing 0+1, Foster 0+1, Hunt 1+0, McEwen 0+1, Sladkovsky 0+1, Speirs 0+1, Susters 1+0,
Netminder: Jordan Marr 22/22 (100.00 %)
PIM: Bison 21 – Phantoms 17. SOG: Bison 22 – Phantoms 20.
Bison MOM: Marcel Balaz – Phantoms MOM: Jordan Marr
Next up at home for the Bison, is a visit from Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday 4th March, tickets are available to purchase from the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website. See you all there!
