TWO goals in the last four minutes saw the Basingstoke Bison suffer a 3-2 loss at bottom side Hull Pirates.

In a close contest from start to finish, the visitors scored the only goal of the first period as Tomas Karpov netted from Ryan Watt.

There was no scoring in the second session, but Hull levelled things on the powerplay at 42:42 from Pasi Salonen as Joe Rand sat out a high sticking penalty.

The Bison took the lead again with eight minutes left, as Aaron Connolly netted assisted by Shaun Thompson.

However, an interference call on Declan Balmer saw Hull level again on their ninth powerplay of the evening this time from Tommi Laine at 56:28.

The home side then hit their own penalty trouble as Salonen departed to the sin bin with three minutes left, but fellow Finn Laine scored the winner shorthanded at 58:47.

As the clock ticked down the visitors pulled their netminder, but it was all in vain as Hull won the game 3-2.

Hull netminder Martins Raitums on his home debut was the home side's man of the match.

The Bison will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they face title rivals Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday.

The Buckinghamshire side lost 7-2 to Bracknell on Sunday night, as the Peterborough Phantoms went back to the top of the English Premier League table. The Bison are now second, level on points with the leaders.