THE Basingstoke under-10 Bison took to the ice resplendent in their new Stroma-sponsored jerseys for a cross challenge tournament with the visiting Chelmsford Cherokees.

The under-10s are the youngest of all the Basingstoke teams and where current Bison stars Ryan Watt, Stuart Mogg and Cameron Wynn started out.

In their first game, the visitors certainly had the upper hand. Then the two Chelmsford sides played each other, so the under-10 Bison coach Mickey Walker put the players through some training drills.

This paid dividends as in the final match, the Bison and Cherokees played out a draw.

The following week, the under-10 Bison made the short road trip to the Guildford Spectrum for another cross-ice challenge tournament.

They faced two Guildford Firestreaks teams and the Solent and Gosport Warriors.

In the opening game against the Firestreaks’ white team, the Bison beat the home side thanks to a valiant effort from netminder Billy Gillard.

The second game against Guildford’s blue team saw all three lines play a fast, skilled game and again the Bison found the back of the net with greater frequency than the opposition.

Smiles and jubilant goal celebra-tions were very much the order of the day as the under-10s demonstrated their impressive hockey skills in both defence and offence.

The final game of the challenge was against the often quite physical Solent and Gosport Warriors.

The young Herd showed they were equal to the Warriors’ gritty playing style as the game ended in a tie.

Leo Delaney picked up the Bison’s spirit of the game award for his consistent and hard-working performance on the day.