BASINGSTOKE, UK: The Bison took three points from their first weekend of action in 2015 thanks to a shoot-out win and loss
The victory came over the visiting EPL leaders Telford Tigers 3-2, while the defeat was at the hands of reigning league champions Manchester Phoenix.
Basingstoke scored their two goals thanks to a Joe Rand double, while Brits Rick Plant and Dan Davies scored for the Tigers.
The Bison dominated overtime, but could not find a winner so it was left to a shoot-out to decide the outcome and for the second time this season between these sides the home side came out on top.
Rand opened proceedings and scored through the legs of Tigers’ netminder Tom Murdy and then Peter Szabo levelled with a top shelf finish.
Ciaran Long suffered a rare miss and then Jason Silverthorn was denied by the pads of Dean Skinns.
A great wrist shot finish from Tomas Karpov gave the Bison game point and when Skinns gloved Scott McKenzie’s shot over the victory was theres.
The following night in Manchester, the Bison started off really well with Andy Melachrino and Doug Sheppard making 2-0 by the first buzzer.
Manchester hit back with a brace in the second period from Robin Kovar and Shaun Thompson.
The Bison re-took the lead from Karpov, before Thompson tied the game three minutes from time.
Overtime again saw the Herd have the better of things, but they failed to find the net so it was on to another shoot-out.
Rand missed the opener and then James Archer gave the home side the lead.
Long scored the next shot to maintain his record as the Herd’s best shoot-out specialist with three from four.
Frankie Bakrlik then failed to convert the next shot as did Karpov.
So it was left to Adam Walker to seal the win and leave the Herd with a 3-2 record in shoot-outs for the season.
“Three points from our first weekend in 2015 was a good return, but when you lead 2-0 and 3-2 it feels a little disappointing to lose.
“The signs are we are going in the right direction and now we want to move up the standings and get ourselves in a good position for the play-offs, said Bison player/coach Doug Sheppard.
Last weekend’s results left the Bison fifth in the standings and they face another tough weekend with a visit from third placed Peterborough Phantoms and then a road trip to second side Guildford Flames.
The Herd lead the six-game series over the Phantoms 3-1 , but are 0-3 against the Flames, so on paper the most likely outcome is a split weekend.
We will have to watch and see what happens, but both games are sure to be close encounters.
Contact the author Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.
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