THE Basingstoke Bison suffered their fourth consecutive road defeat, as they lost 4-3 at arch local rivals the Guildford Flames.

The defeat saw the Surrey side secure the series win and close the gap on the fourth placed Bison to eight points.

The Flames started on fire, as it took the lead after just 68 seconds, as their man of the match Tuomas Santavuori scored.

The Herd battled back to level things by the first buzzer, thanks to a strike from Joe Rand assisted by Derek Roehl, as the Canadian forward stepped back onto the ice after serving a penalty.

The second session saw a lot more goals as the Flames edged it 3-2.

They took the lead again from defenceman Kevin Phillips, but the Herd hit back as Rene Jarolin put away a pass from Bison man of the match Aaron Connolly.

Guildford then made it 3-2 as Jez Lundin fired in from the blue line, but once again the visitors tied things up 62 seconds later, as leading scorer Ciaran Long rifled home.

However, with 27 seconds left of the period, the Flames scored again, as Tom Duggan found a way past Tomas Hiadlovsky.

The final session, saw the Bison look for an equaliser with Long and Tomas Karpov going close.

The visitors cause was not as three times they had powerplays against them, but the home side failed to add to their tally.

With 50 seconds left, the Bison goalie Hiadlovsky was pulled for the extra skater.

Soon after, tempers boiled over, as Rand and Guildford’s Kari Sihvonen clashed, which earned both players four minutes for roughing with 35 seconds to go.

The Herd piled on the pressure, but were could not force an equaliser.

The Bison will hope to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday (6.30pm), when they are at home to the Milton Keynes Lightning.