Photo (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 2-5 Peterborough Phantoms (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 8th January 2022
Refs: Brooks and Poulton – Linos: O’Neill and Sore
The GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison were once again in home action as they played host to the Peterborough Phantoms, with both teams looking to climb the league table as the second half of the season kicked on.
Having played the previous night away in Milton Keynes, the Herd were perhaps feeling the effects of their exploits in the opening minutes as the Phantoms looked much the busier side, forcing netminder Jordan Lawday into multiple saves early on. After weathering the storm for the first 5 minutes, finally, the home side began to find their stride and much more comfortable, seeing Alex Roberts and Adam Harding both narrowly miss the Phantoms’ net.
At 12:53, however, the Bison found the net and in some style, as mighty forward George Norcliffe (assisted by Doughty and Harding) set off down the left wing, breezing past the opposition before cutting in sharply towards goal, before tucking the puck home past Jordan Marr in goal for a 1-0 lead. DJ Bavy had barely started announcing the opening goal, when it became double-delight for the Herd as speedy Liam Morris (Sampford) took a pass across the blue line, stepped forward into space and blasted high past Marr at 13:18, handing his team a 2-0 lead which would remain intact as the first period ended.
The early stages of the middle frame were littered with penalties as both teams struggled to find any real momentum, until a 5-on-3 powerplay gave the visitors a glorious chance to open their account and at 24:37 they made the Herd pay, as Duncan Speirs (unassisted) slotted the puck past Lawday in goal to bring the Phantoms within 1 goal.
Barely a minute later and to the dismay of the home fans, the away side found themselves level at 2-2 when Jasper Foster (Liddell, Gretton) buried the puck to the delight of the visiting band of loyal Phantoms fans. The scoreline looked destined to remain level heading into the second intermission until a late Cross Checking penalty on Adam Harding threatened to ruin this.
The Herd just about killed this powerplay off but moments later disaster struck at 39:56 when Scott Robson (Padelek) sent a shot that somehow crept through netminder Lawday and over the line, putting the visitors 2-3 ahead after 40 minutes.
Needing a huge final 20 minutes to come back into the contest, the Bison set about finding an equaliser but despite their hard work, the amount of shots on Jordan Marr did not reflect this and they struggled to create clear chances, leaving the fans frustrated. Further irritation was felt as the home side fell foul of the officials, disrupting the Herd’s chances of fighting back.
The final dagger came after a penalty was called on the Bison for Too Many Men on the Ice, during which Duncan Speirs (Padelek, Norton) fired a brilliant shot home at 57:49 to double the Phantoms’ lead to 2-4. In a last gasp effort to pull off a miraculous escape, netminder Lawday was removed from net in favour of an extra forward skater but that move would unfortunately backfire as Duncan Speirs (Padelek, Billing) completed a well deserved hat-trick at 59:55 with an empty net goal, to finish off a 2-5 win for the Phantoms.
Bison stats: Doughty 0+1, Harding 0+1, Morris 1+0, Norcliffe 1+0, Sampford 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 31/4 (87.10%)
Phantoms stats: Padelek 0+3, Speirs 3+0, Billing 0+1, Foster 1+0, Gretton 0+1, Liddell 0+1, Robson 1+0, Norton 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Marr 20/2 (90.00%)
PIM: Bison 10 – Phantoms 4. SOG: Bison 20 – Phantoms 32.
Bison MOM: Liam Morris – Phantoms MOM: Duncan Speirs
Next up at home for the Herd is a supremely tough battle against the table-topping Telford Tigers, on Saturday 15th January when the Bison will be hosting our Pride game as part of the EIHA inagurgual Pride Week.
Tickets are available for the Saturday nights Pride game by clicking the following link. (which also happens to be a particular writer’s birthday…)!
See you all there as we hope to see the Herd bounce back in style.
