Buzzer Report: Swindon Wildcats 1 Basingstoke Bison 5

Swindon Wildcats TOTAL Sport’s Ben Callaghan was present in Basingstoke as Aaron Nell’s Swindon Wildcats took on the Bison, for their second game under the new coaching regime...

After an impressive victory against Guildford Flames on Saturday evening the Wildcats went in search of their first 4 point weekend of the season.

Unfortunately a 5-1 loss to Basingstoke Bison condemned the Cats to another weekend of mixed results. Cats started brightly and player-coach Aaron Nell swiftly tested Tomasz Hiadlovsky in the Bison net early on.

Swindon would be the side to break the deadlock, Corey McEwen sped down the left wing and dropped the puck back to Sam Bullas who fired a shot low through the legs of the Bison netminder at 2:03.

The lead didn’t last long, just as the Bison had killed a penalty, Joe Greener was able to scramble the puck underneath Jordan Hedley to tie the game up with 6:29 gone in the match.

The goal gave Bison some momentum and JHedley was being tested more often. Greener, Mogg and Connolly all had good chances for the Bison before managing to get the go-ahead goal. Stuart Mogg picked up a Joe Greener pass and the Bison youngster saw his shot roll off the shoulder of Hedley and flick into the back of the net at 16:50.

The second period proved to be where the Bison took full control of the contest. Swindon were on the back foot early on and the Basingstoke forecheck was working very hard along the boards. At 21:29 Ciaran Long blasted a stunning shot from the left wing and wristed a laser past Jordan Hedley to take the score to 3-1.

As the second period ticked by the Cats became more frustrated which led to Tomasz Malasinski and Jonas Höög both getting into the Bison zone and being out muscled before they could release a shot. Basingstoke continued to press and they made it 4-1 at 27:57. Shaun Thompson was on hand to swallow up a Jordan Hedley rebound and fire the puck into the back of the net. Swindon took the timeout to try and regroup but were held back again when Corey McEwen was given a game penalty for high sticks.

Swindon did manage to kill the five minute powerplay but the buzzer sounded on a frustrating period, which saw Wildcats muster up no shots on goal for the duration of 20 minutes.

The final period was one to forget for the majority of the fans. Basingstoke did what they needed to do to ensure they got the points. Carlo Finucci had the best chance for Swindon, forcing Hiadlovsky into a quick glove save midway through the period. The Bison got their fifth of the night when Miroslav Vantroba hacked at a loose puck and saw it fly into the top corner.

Handbags occurred in the final minute of the game with Matt Selby, Neil Liddiard, Carlo Finucci, Joe Greener and Joe Baird all heading to the box after an incident in front of the Cats bench. Basingstoke defended solidly and ran out worthy 5-1 winners on the night.

Swindon will look to bounce back from another mixed weekend and a tough week with a visit to Milton Keynes to take on the Lightning on Saturday before Basingstoke visit the Link Centre again on Sunday night.