BRACKNELL, UK – Ciaran Long’s late goal put an end to a Bracknell comeback – sealing a win for the Bison at The Hive.
Basingstoke had taken a three-goal lead, but the Bees battled back to make it a one-goal game, but eventually fell to their local rivals.
Bees forward Nicky Watt said: “I think we were unlucky not to get anything out of the game. It was individual mistakes that let us down.
“We out-shot them, and we did the same against Swindon the night before, so we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”
The home side were on the back foot for most of the first period, with Bees netminder Adam Marashi keeping the scores level.
The Basingstoke pressure finally paid off as Tony Redmond struck on the rebound. However, the Bees scored against the run of play to equalise before the first intermission. Nicky Watt fed Jaroslav Cesky and the Czech star hit a perfect shot past Dean Skinns after some nifty puck handling.
The Bees dominated the second period as they increased their physical presence. However, it was the away team who regained the lead with three quick goals.
As Basingstoke returned to full strength following a Bees power play, they found themselves with a two-man rush. Marashi tried to cut out the puck as he rushed out of his crease, but he couldn’t get there and the Bison scored an easy goal.
Moments later, some fantastic puck movement and passing allowed Viktor Kubenko to score. Eleven seconds later, Ollie Bronnimann caught Marashi by surprise with a long-range shot to give the Bison a 4-1 lead.
Watt added: “They caught us off-guard with a man coming out of the penalty box, and then a lack of concentration really cost us.”
Despite looking down and out, the Bees didn’t give up. Alex Barker capped a good performance with an important goal as the Bees cut the deficit to two goals.
Michal Pinc had been causing the visitors all sorts of problems, and his work was rewarded early in the third period, when he hammered home a pass from Barker to put the Bees within touching distance.
The Bees kept the intensity up in the final period, setting up a tense climax.
Skinns looked very comfortable with all the Bees could throw his way in the closing stages, despite the Bees dominating face-offs. The result was put beyond doubt as Long made it 5-3 with a backhander after a clever spin.
Contact the author david.bol@prohockeynews.com
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