WILLIAM Birch was the Basingstoke under-14 Bison’s hat-trick hero as they extended their unbeaten run to six games with a 4-4 draw against visiting league leaders the Milton Keynes Storm.

The visitors were first to strike in the seventh minute, but Birch levelled things soon after, forcing a turnover and skating past a couple of MK defencemen to score.

MK added a second before the first buzzer, but the Herd equalised soon after the break as a great pass from Elliot Lewis saw Birch score again.

The visitors then took the lead for the third time, but once again the home side hit back, as man-of-the-match Oliver Bower and Adam Castles combined for Birch to complete his hat-trick.

It came as no real surprise when MK took a 4-3 lead, but with two minutes left the Bison grabbed a deserved equaliser as Castles released Bower to score.

Both teams pushed for the winning goal and Lewis forced a great save from the MK goalie, before home netminder Sam Childs produced a stunning stop in the final minute to deny Taylor Romeo his hat-trick.

The Bison’s spirit of the game winner was Joshua Smith and the result leaves the under-14s second ahead of a trip to third-placed Gosport and Solent this Sunday.

The under-12s were also in action last weekend, losing 5-1 to local rivals Bracknell. Kody Sewell scored their only goal, assisted by Travis Penny.

The Bison Ladies were also narrowly beaten at home last Saturday, going down 4-2 to Cardiff.