NEIL Leary scored in the final two minutes to help the Basingstoke Buffalo draw 3-3 with visiting title chasers Bristol Pitbulls last Sunday.

The sides had only clashed a few weeks earlier, a match the West Country side won 5-2.

In a close contest, the Buffalo opened the scoring at 5:02 as man-of-the-match Alex Sampford converted a pass from Matt Lawday.

The visitors levelled things on their second powerplay of the game as Jordan Smith scored.

This was how it stayed until the 25th minute, when Leary slotted in from Ryan Sutton.

Once again the title chasers hit back as Adrian Smith scored and the score stayed 2-2 to the second buzzer.

The final 20 minutes saw Bristol take the lead as former Bison Richard Hargreaves scored with six minutes left.

This looked like the game winner until the last penalty of the game in the final two minutes and then the Buffalo pulled their goalie Steven Grout, who had a busy night and faced 49 shots.

This did the trick as Greg Martyn and Lawday combined for Leary to make sure the honours were shared with the game-tying goal at 58:37.

This Sunday, the Buffalo have a tough trip as they travel to leaders Slough, with their next home game being on Sunday, January 26, against Swindon.

The Basingstoke Bison Ladies lost 11-2 at the Bracknell Firebees, with Christy Baker and Jodie Attrill scoring their goals.

The team are on their travels again this weekend as they are away at Oxford on Sunday.