Images (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 5-4 Bees IHC – after OT and Penalties (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 11th March 2023
Refs: Hewitt and Korsaks – Linos: Fraley and Olczak
Humbled by a 0-7 thrashing last time out, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison returned to home ice for a hugely significant derby-day battle against the Slough-based Bees IHC, knowing that a win would edge the home side towards confirming a play-off spot.
Fans of the Herd were encouraged by a bright start for their team, which included an early powerplay opportunity, as they tested netminder Matt Smital at will. Down the other end, an attack by the visitors almost resulted in the opening goal of the game as Brendon Walkom’s shot squeezed through Alex Mettam in net, however, a fabulous goal-line clearance by Brendan Baird kept the scores level. The first round of fisticuffs soon followed as Marcus Mitchell and Josh Smith got the derby-day juices flowing and buoyed by this, a few minutes later the Bison took the lead at 12:34. Zac Milton (assisted by Norcliffe and Sampford) used a screen in front and collected a rebound to fire home for 1-0.
Late on in the opening frame, it became double-delight for the home crowd as the Bison increased their advantage to 2-0 with a smart finish from captain George Norcliffe (Sampford, Balaz). Breaking into the offensive zone with speed, a precise pass from Alex Sampford was poked home through the netminder by Norcliffe at 19:05. The joy was short-lived though, as the Bees struck with precision at 19:54 to boost themselves heading into the first period break, when their two imports combined to see prolific forward Brendon Walkom (Gabaj) fire home with ease.
The middle frame began just as the opener did, with the Bison looking strong and creating the majority of the chances. Cue, a second goal for the visitors against the run of play by Ryan Webb (Pitchley), which appeared to take a deflection and slip through Alex Mettam in net at 28:45, to level the game at 2-2. Having grown into the contest, the Bees took full advantage of momentum to put themselves ahead for the first time at 36:31, when Harry Harcup (Rose, Lindgren) finished off a goal-mouth scramble by poking the puck across the line for a 2-3 lead.
Needing a hero to wrestle back control of this high-stakes game, up stepped none other than the Bison captain himself to level the scoreline within a minute. Bursting around the defence on the left wing, George Norcliffe (unassisted) flicked the puck home inside the near post at 37:24, to tie the game at 3-3 and send the ‘Super Georgey Norcliffe’ fan club positively bananas in the stands. In true derby-day style, tensions boiled over just before the end of the second period, as Jay King and JJ Pitchley decided to drop the gloves in front of the benches for an excellent scrap, with the Bison d-man getting the takedown to rapturous applause.
A frenetic start to the final period saw the Herd survive a 5-on-3 penalty kill situation, before an insane passage of play saw both Neil Liddiard and Liam Morris save shots on the goal line with netminder Mettam out of position, having mis-played a puck clearance. At 49:21 with composure regained, the Bison once again took the lead as Brendan Baird (unassisted) saw his shot from the right side deflect off a Bees player and loop agonisingly into the net, leaving Matt Smital with no chance and the home team 4-3 ahead.
Brendon Walkom (Baird, Jackson) is probably the one Bees player you would not want to give time and space to, but at 52:13 he was afforded both and duly obliged to level the game at 4-4, moving between the circles and firing home with deadly accuracy. No further goals meant that the contest would go to Overtime, with both sides gaining at least one point which seemed fair on the balance of play. End-to-end and nerve-filled, the five minute extra period saw the Herd creating more chances, with their best opportunity missed by captain Norcliffe inside the final 10 seconds. So, it was time for the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
After five rounds, both teams had scored on two of their attempts and despite some controversy surrounding Dominik Gabaj’s effort, the shoot-out went to sudden death. Import forward Gaël Lubwele calmly slotted home for the Bison before Alex Mettam stood firm to deny Juha Lindgren and seal a thrilling 5-4 win for the home side, as players poured onto the ice and fans in the stands roared with delight at the derby-day victory!
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Norcliffe 2+1, Sampford 0+2, Baird 1+0, Balaz 0+1, Milton 1+0
Netminder: Alex Mettam 33/37 (89.19%)
Bees stats: Walkom 2+0, Baird 0+1, Gabaj 0+1, Harcup 1+0, Jackson 0+1, Lindgren 0+1, Pitchley 0+1, Rose 0+1, Webb 1+0
Netminder: Matt Smital 45/49 (91.84%)
PIM: Bison 23 – Bees 19. SOG: Bison 49 – Bees 37.
Bison MOM: Norcliffe – Bees MOM: Hoppes
Next up at home for the Bison, a game on Sunday 19th March as the Romford-based Raiders IHC come to town, tickets for the original fixture in December are valid for the rearranged date and seats can be purchased from the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website See you all there!
