BASINGSTOKE, UK- It may not have been pretty at times, but a four point weekend was just what the Basingstoke Bison were looking for against the Swindon Wildcats in their quest for a final four place in the EPL Cup.
The Herd now have one foot in the semi-finals after a road win at the Link Centre, 5-3, was followed up by a 6-5 home victory. This now means Basingstoke just have to beat Sheffield in their final group game to secure their spot and even an overtime loss may well be enough.
The Bison came into the weekend against their local rivals on the back of a very impressive double over EPL top dogs Manchester. However, they were unable to recreate that form against their Wiltshire rivals who on Saturday night, had the odds stacked against them with leading scorer Josef Liska out injured and fellow import Toivo Suursoo suspended for one game. The Herd were also minus injured British defenseman Sam Oakford for both encounters.
At the Link Centre on Saturday night, the home side took the lead from Matt Foord, before Slovak scoring twins Ondrej Lauko and Viktor Kubenko edged Basingstoke in front. Former Bison Ryan Aldridge equalised, before former ’Cat Steve Moria made sure his side led at the first buzzer.
The second session saw just one goal from Wildcats man-of-the-match Jan Melichar to tie the game again.
However, a Kubenko brace to complete his hat-trick, including an empty netter made sure of the victory.
In between the two goals, the home side were awarded a penalty shot after Bison’s man-of-the-match for the third game running netminder Dean Skinns went for a poke check but his stick came out of his hand. Referee Dave Cloutman called it as throwing the stick, but unfortunately for Swindon’s Egidijus Bauba he fanned on the shot which would have tied the game at 4-4 at the time.
“I think the penalty shot was an automatic call as it did look like he threw the stick, even if it was accident. I felt we didn’t play well in the first two periods and I changed things around in the third and switched Tony (Redmond) to defence and we played a smart period and won the game,” said Bison player/coach Moria.
On Sunday night, back in Basingstoke for the sixth game on the bounce the Bison conceded first, but as was in the case in the previous five games they went on to win. However, they normally don’t go two goals down, but this time that was the case as Egidijus Bauba opened his Wildcats account to add to captain Lee Richardson’s earlier strike. The home side hit back from Ciaran Long only for Suursoo with the help of the pipework to make it 3-1.
The Herd kept themselves in the contest thanks to leading scorer Lauko just before the first break. Then after the interval Lauko tied the game before defenseman Carl Graham scored his first ever goal for the club with a blue line streamer to put the Bison ahead in the contest for the first time.
Swindon equalised from Suursoo, before Nicky Chinn restored the home side’s lead, on a weekend where he picked six helpers to go with his one goal. The Wildcats then had Ryan Watt dismissed for slashing Kubenko, but did well on the PK either side of the second interval.
Having survived that with Aldridge now playing on the top import line started the move which saw Bauba tie the game, but it was all in vain as Long came up with the game winner. Swindon did pull their netminder in the final minute and only the stick of Jason Stone stopped Graham scoring a second into the empty net.
“It was great to get my first goal and hopefully it is the first of many for me. Maybe I could get a couple in a game this season.
“It is been a hard weekend playing with four D, but we have got the four points and that is what we wanted,” said Bison defenseman Graham.
This weekend, the Bison face another double header against the Peterborough Phantoms. They have not won in Basingstoke in their last 15 visits and the Herd have won on five of their last six road trips to Cambridgeshire. So the history books are shacked against them, but that will not bother the East of England side and their new coach former Bison hero Curtis Cruickshank. The netminder holds the Hampshire side’s record for shut-outs with seven and his own goalie Stephen Wall recorded back-to-back blanks last month.
These sides have already met twice this season with the Herd winning both games 4-3, but it has to be said the first time was only after penalty shots on home ice.
Contact the author: Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.com
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