BASINGSTOKE, UK- Bison player/coach Steve Moria is calling for last Sunday’s game against the Guildford Flames, which the Herd lost 5-3 to be replayed.
He wrote this in his weekly column for the Basingstoke Gazette and was obviously still angry with events that surrounded the club’s loss in Surrey.
The Bison had be expecting to face a Flames side minus one of their four imports as they believed that Czech forward Martin Masa had been given a match penalty for high sticks against Milton Keynes the previous night.
This was what was announced at the game and in the EPL a match penalty means the player automatically sits out the next game.
However, the gamesheet signed by the referee Dan Broadman and both coaches after the game showed the penalty to be a 5+game for high sticks, when it should have been a match, that being the instruction to referees by the EPL.
A game penalty does not carry an automatic suspension just penalty points towards a ban and as Masa had not reached the 10 point barrier for suspension, the Flames were allowed to ice four imports on Sunday night against the Bison.
“The league made a mistake with this in my view and I will be writing to them to make sure it does not happen again,” said Moria.
His wish for the game to replayed is unlikely to wash with league officials as it is the second time this season a game penalty has been written on a gamesheet instead of a match.
However, it does not help the creditability of the league and no doubt Moria will be been even more fuming if one of his players receives a match penalty this coming Saturday or Sunday.
Last weekend, Basingstoke produced two great performances, but that did not translate into points as they picked up just one from a home overtime loss to leaders Manchester.
The Bison led this contest four times, before a powerplay in overtime was their undoing and Tom Duggan grabbed the game winner.
The Phoenix had recent signing from Peterborough Joe Miller making his debut and he certainly added some bite to Manchester’s third line and scored their first equalising goal.
This was after Ollie Bronnimann had netted and in the process became only the sixth British player for Basingstoke to score 50 league goals.
The second session saw the Herd’s leading scorer Viktor Kubenko edged the home side in front again, only for Tony Hand to level.
The Bison took the lead for a third time in the contest just 30 seconds into the final period and should have won the game when given nearly two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage shortly after.
However, Manchester killed off the penalty and then Ladislav Harabin tied the game again.
A minute later, Ben Davies with his first goal on home ice made it 4-3, but Hand again thanks to a fortunate rebound off the stick of Moria tied it once more with less than three minutes to go.
Referee Joy Tottman then endeared herself to the Bison fans for a second time this season, having dished out a fist full of penalties in the opening game in Basingstoke against Manchester. She called a harsh boarding penalty on Kubenko in overtime and opened the door for the winner.
“I felt we controlled the second and third periods of the game, so it is disappointing to end up losing. If I look back on it, not scoring on the 5-on-3 proved to be very costly,” said Bison player/coach Moria.
The following night in Guildford the Herd faced a Flames side which included former Bison forward Andy Hemmings making his home debut on their third line.
The Surrey side swept into a 2-0 lead as Nathan Rempel and Ricky Plant scored.
The second goal saw the already short staffed Bison lose another player as Ricky Skene was dismissed on a game misconduct for his protest that the it was scored with a high stick.
By the first buzzer, Guildford had made it 3-0 thanks to Jez Lundin, but the Herd hit back in the second session as Slovak’s Kubenko and Ondrej Lauko scored.
Lukas Smital then restored the two goal, but Bronnimann maintained his recent good scoring run by making it 4-3 after 40 minutes.
The only powerplay on the night for the Flames saw Rempel score the final goal of the contest as the Flames got their title hopes back on track with a four point weekend.
The Bison will now look to bounce back when they entertain the Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday.
The Yorkshire side have been well beaten in their previous two meetings with the Herd this season, but now have a new player/coach in Andre Payette in charge.
He inspired the side to a double success of Telford and Peterborough last weekend, meaning Saturday’s game will be a lot closer.
Then on Sunday third placed Basingstoke travel to fifth team Milton Keynes looking to avenge a 5-0 defeat earlier in the campaign.
These teams have four meetings left in the season and these matches will go a long way in deciding which side ends up finishing higher in the standings.
Contact the author Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.com
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