8th-9th October
By Anthony Russell
It was a mixed weekend for the Bison as they came away with a loss followed by a win. Let’s have a look at the rest of the National Division.
Saturday
Hull’s quest for a first win continued at home against the Raiders. Adam Laishram and Lee Pollitt traded goals before Matheiu Gomercic put the Raiders ahead at the end of the first frame. The second started with promise for the Seahawks but the home fans were stunned into silence by a natural hattrick from Jake Sylvester. Cameron Hamill have the home fans something to cheer before the end of the second period as he found the net to make it 5-2. The third ebbed and flowed and the Seahawks rolled the dice by pulling Jordan McLaughlin from the net but the empty net goal from Aaron Connolly sealed the deal at 6-2 for Sean Easton’s side.
Swindon’s only game of the weekend saw them host the Peterborough Phantoms and it was the visitors with the better start as Lukas Sladkovsky and Luc Johnson made it 2-0. Aaron Nell would get his Wildcats on the scoresheet but a second from Sladkovsky would make it 3-1 at the end of the first. Swindon would get within a goal as Russ Cowley scored on the powerplay in the second. However two quick goals in the third from Austin Mitchell-King and Jasper Foster made it 5-2 and Swindon had to deal with another 0 point weekend.
It was dogs and cats at Ice Sheffield as the Steeldogs and Tigers did battle. Telford took the lead through Dan Mulcahy before Jack Brammer fired in an equaliser. Dan Rose put the visitors ahead when he banged the puck home on the powerplay so the Tigers had a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame. Lucas Price extended the lead early in the third to 3-1 and Telford shut the game down, not allowing the Steeldogs a way back in.
Bristol welcomed the Bees to the dog pen in BS10 and it certainly didn’t start well as Dominic Gabaj score after just 65 seconds before Scott Jamieson’s first for the Pitbulls at 2.57 tied the game at 1-1. The hosts took the lead at the midway point of the first when Alex Roberts beat Adam Goss for 2-1 at the end of the first and it was 3-1 just 9 seconds into the third as Goss misplayed the puck straight to Caly Robertson who tapped into an empty net. Moments later it was 4-1 as Owen Sobchak scored on the powerplay and it was 5-1 at 23.50 as Sean Morris beat Goss which ended his night. Dan Weller-Evans came in to relieve Goss and the Bees responded quickly as Dominic Gabaj made it 5-2 which is how the score sat at the end of the second. With time against the Bees they needed to respond and did. Gabaj completed his hattrick with just over 8 minutes to go and a goal from Harvey Stead about a minute later made it 5-4. It would be heartbreak for the hosts as with just 26 seconds to go, a shot from the point by Will Stead went through the traffic and past Will Kerlin to make it 5-5. Overtime couldn’t separate the sides. The shootout came and the nerves would melt away. The Pitbulls scored their shots, the Bees missed and with the game on his stick Christian Mohr found the net and the Pitbulls had their first National Division win.
Sunday
Whilst Bristol would fall to defeat in Basingstoke on Sunday, the Bees looked to rebound against Hull. The Seahawks got off to a great start as Owen Bruton and Declan Balmer had the Yorkshire side 2-0 up inside 10 minutes. However the Bees would come back as Ryan Webb got Doug Sheppard’s team on the board. The visitors made it 3-1 through Jordan Fisher early in the second but that was the last bit of good news for any fans of chip spice. Will Stead got the Bees within one before Juha Lindgren tied the game at 3-3 at 34.50. In the third Brendan Walkom gave the hosts a lead they wouldn’t lose. Two Goals from Alan Lack, a second from Lindgren and Lewis English saw the Bees storm to victory with 8-3 the final score.
Peterborough took on Sheffield at home. It was an even first with the deadlock broken by Ales Padelek for the Phantoms to give them the lead at the end at 20 minutes. The Steeldogs would get a goal of their own in the second to tie the game thanks to Tom Palmer leaving the game poised at 1-1 heading into the third. Jason Hewitt would put the visitors ahead in the third but a goal from Tom Norton with just over five minutes to go tied the game at 2-2. Regulation time couldn’t separate the sides and it would be a marque goal for the hosts. A breakaway saw Padelek add his second of the night, secure the win for the Phantoms and tally his 200th goal in Peterborough colours. Congrats to Ales on the achievement.
After their win against the Bison on Saturday, the MK Lightning looked to keep their unbeaten run going in Telford against the Tigers. Vladimir Luka put the hosts ahead in the 5th minute before player/coach Tim Wallace tied the score at 1-1. Liam Stewart put the hosts ahead shorthanded but the Tigers converted on the powerplay as Finely Howells scrambled the puck home for a 2-2 tie at the end of the first. Sam Talbot put the Lightning ahead in the second but Bayley Harewood tied the score at 3-3 heading into the third. It was an unlikely scorer who put the Lightning head in the third as Ross Green found the net. Telford pushed and pushed but the Tigers ran out of road. The Lightning took another two points to continue their superb unbeaten run.
The other unbeaten side in the league, Leeds Knights had their only game of the weekend against the Raiders. Matt Haywood got the Knights off and running and Carter Hamill doubled the lead before Harry Gulliver got the Raiders into the game. The Knights would press on in the second as Adam Barnes and a shorthander from Haywood made it 4-1 inside 25 minutes before Zack Brooks made it 5-1 to round out the second. Brandon Ayliffe pulled one back for the Raiders and Adam Laishram made it 5-3 to give them a chance. Brad Windebank was pulled for the extra attacker but Cole Shudra fired into the empty net to make it 6-3 and keep the Knights and Lightning unbeaten atop the National Division table.
This weekend the Herd face off at 6.30pm on Saturday night when we entertain the Leeds Chiefs, tickets are available to purchase by clicking this link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
Anthony Russell is the writer of Banners On The Wall (http://bannersonthewall.wordpress.com) which has covered the Bison and British hockey for the last 11 years. He hosts the BOTW What’s Current Stream, the NIHL’s live show for news and views, Wednesday night at 8pm at Twitter.com/BannersOTW
