Final score: Basingstoke Bison 2-4 Milton Keynes Lightning
By Matthew Church
Saturday 27th November 2021
Refs: Brooks and Jarvie – Linos: Cook and Olczak
Returning home for the first time in a fortnight, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison looked to bounce back to winning ways and welcomed the Milton Keynes Lightning to town. Despite missing a handful of bodies to injury, the home side were well matched against their rivals in the opening minutes, with both teams creating decent chances on their respective sole powerplay opportunities in the first frame. Former Bison youngster Sam Talbot (assisted by Chamberlain and Christie) would be the man to break the deadlock at 13:58, flying down the middle of the ice and firing a quick wrist shot into the net as the Herd’s defence backed off. That would be the only difference between the two sides as the period progressed and the Lightning would hold onto their 0-1 lead at the first intermission.
Having been out-shot in the opening frame, the Bison came back out from the break full of positive intent and dominating possession but as the contest approached the halfway point, they remained off the scoreboard. Forced to kill off back-to-back penalties, the home side would survive them, only to fall further behind moments later after a goal that needed consultation between goal judge and officials to confirm it. At 36:15 Edgars Landsbergs (Chamberlain, Laishram) sent a speculative shot from a tight angle which crept between netminder Mettam and his near post and just over the line, for a 0-2 lead in favour of the visitors which would be unchanged heading into the second interval.
Needing a miracle to rescue the game, the Herd unequivocally had to score the next goal and thankfully for the home fans, they did just that at 42:56 when Aidan Doughty (Milton) was perfectly placed in front of net to stuff home a rebounded effort from Zack Milton, bringing the Bison to within one goal. Shortly afterwards, a Hooking penalty assessed to Leigh Jamieson provided the Bison with a clear opportunity to level the scores but unfortunately the Lightning would hold firm and keep themselves in front although not for long. It may only be November but this strike could be a contender for goal of the season. Liam Morris (unassisted) set off from his own end like a flash, dancing past virtually every Lightning player on the ice and through their defence like a knife through butter, before lifting the puck past Smital in net at 50:46 and roaring with delight, mirroring the Herd faithful in the stands as he restored parity at 2-2.
With the battle evenly poised as the final minutes arrived, Bobby Chamberlain (Laishram, Jamieson) would break the hearts of the home players and fans as he notched the game winner at 54:09 whilst the Lightning were on the powerplay, putting his side ahead once again. Before DJ Bavy had finished announcing the visitors’ third goal, disaster struck as another former Bison forward Sean Norris (Chamberlain) caught a Bison team sleeping and at 54:28 danced through to slide the puck through Mettam in net, with just 19 seconds between the two goals. Unfortunately, this proved to be a hurdle too large to overcome for the Bison and they could not recover with another classic last gasp comeback, leaving the visitors to take the two points with a 2-4 victory.
Bison stats: Doughty 1+0, Milton 0+1, Morris 1+0
Netminder: Alex Mettam 28/4 (85.71%)
Lightning stats: Chamberlain 1+3, Laishram 0+2, Christie 0+1, Jamieson 0+1, Landsbergs 1+0, Norris 1+0, Talbot 1+0
Netminder: Matt Smital 40/2 (95.00%)
PIM: Bison 10 – Lightning 6. SOG: Bison 40 – Lightning 28
Bison MOM: Liam Morris – Lightning MOM: Matt Smital
The Herd are next at home on December 4th where they welcome the Romford-based Raiders IHC.
