OUR hockey season ended on Saturday in Coventry. The team, without our captain Aaron Connolly, gave everything they had in our semi-final match against Milton Keynes.

Joe Greener, playing in a Bison shirt for the last time, scored the goal that tied the game, taking it into extra time and then to penalty shots.

That’s what makes these sudden death games so dramatic. We went down by one goal and out of the play-offs.

We had a huge following at the game and they stood to show their appreciation for the performance of the team, as Joe stepped forward to receive his man of the match award.

He’ll have been disappointed by the result but I’m sure he will take away great memories of his name being chanted as he and the team skated round before leaving the ice.

We won’t find another Joe Greener, but we faced a similar situation during the season when Joe Rand stepped aside. Rene Jarolin came in and the team found a different balance.

And we went on to become league champions, winning 40 of our 54 fixtures.

During this historic season, we’ve had weddings and births. We’ve had farewells and injuries. As well as Rene, we’ve welcomed Jon Baston and Matt Towalski to the Bison family and Ryan Sutton and Daniel Lackey moved up to join the senior squad.

I was delighted to see so many of our team recognised in the All Star selection, chosen by sports journalists across the country. Jon Baston, Kurt Reynolds, Ciaran Long and Tom Karpov were all selected for the top line-up, and Rene Jarolin and Stuart Mogg were included in the second line-up.

The whole team have been stars all season. League Champions. Cup semi-finalists. Play-off semi-finalists. No wonder that ice hockey means so much to so many supporters in Basingstoke.

Thank you and have a great summer.