Final score: Basingstoke Bison 2-1 Telford Tigers (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 1st October 2022
Refs: Korsaks and Solovjovs – Linos: Earl and Sitch-Cunningham
Full of confidence after finishing September with a four-point weekend, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison were keen to kick off October in similar fashion as they welcomed Telford Tigers to town. The Shropshire-based side are the current league champions and would undoubtedly provide a stern early season test for the Herd.
The opening period began at a breathless pace as the puck went from end to end with barely a stoppage in play, both sides taking advantage of tired legs to attack on multiple odd-man rushes, but it took until 11:17 for the first goal of the night to arrive. To the delight of the home crowd, it went the way of the Bison as Aidan Doughty (assisted by Marcel Balaz and George Norcliffe) poked home from close range after a slap pass from Norcliffe was deflected to him by Balaz, as the trio completed a fantastic powerplay move. In contrast to the previous home game against Swindon, this contest appeared to focus on defence as both sides were very well matched, with Alex Mettam and Brad Day in net for the Bison and Tigers respectively, each producing multiple fine stops to keep the goal scoring to a minimum. Therefore, as the first period ended it meant the Herd were narrowly 1-0 in front.
Not for lack of trying but the middle frame saw a drop in the level of attacking intensity despite the home team clearly enjoying more of the puck possession, with play becoming increasingly gritty and attritional compared to the opening period. Some closely fought games are described as thrilling, whereas this felt “monotonous” according to one particular super-fan in Block E. Import forward Gaël Lubwele continued to look menacing for the Bison, using his combination of power and speed to will the Herd towards doubling their advantage, with the Tigers’ best chances coming from experienced forward Scott McKenzie and young star Brodie Jesson. Finally, at 35:06 the second goal of the contest arrived but sadly for the home crowd, it was produced by the visitors as Vladimir Luka (Silverthorn, Rose) used the extra space while on the powerplay so rifle home from the left of netminder Mettam for a 1-1 game. This score would remain unchanged as the teams left the ice for the second intermission.
With only 20 minutes remaining in a tightly-contested battle and both sides looking for a hero, the smallest mistake looked likely to prove the difference between winning and losing. Fast forward to 49:57 on the clock and that moment arrived, with the Bison crowd full of jubilation as their side moved ahead once again. A mix up near centre-ice saw a bobbling puck collected by Marcel Balaz (unassisted), before the highly experienced import raced forwards toward Brad Day in the Tigers goal and sent a wrist shot flying into the back of the net under immense pressure, to the delight of his team-mates and home fans. The job was far from done however, as the Herd were forced into some heroic defending as the clock wound towards 60 minutes, with veteran forwards Jason Silverthorn and Rick Plant both seeing chances go agonisingly wide in the final stages.
Thankfully the final buzzer arrived before the Tigers could spoil the party with a late equaliser, and the Bison were left to celebrate a tough but thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory. Next up at home for the Bison, is a contest on Sunday 9th October against the Bristol Pitbulls. See you all there!
Tickets are available to purchase for Sunday’s game which faces off at the earlier time of 5.30pm by clicking the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Balaz 1+1, Doughty 1+0. Norcliffe 0+1
Netminder: Alex Mettam 22/21 (95.45%)
Tigers stats: Luka 1+0, Rose 0+1, Silverthorn 0+1
Netminder: Brad Day 32/2 (93.75%)
PIM: Bison 4 – Tigers 8. SOG: Bison 32 – Tigers 22.
Bison MOM: Balaz – Tigers MOM: Goodison
