THE Basingstoke Bison opened 2019 with a 7-2 victory over the visiting Invicta Dynamos.

The Herd dominated the game from start to finish, as they out-shot the visitors 51-9.

They took the lead in the seventh minute with a close range shot from Michal Klejna, but Invicta levelled with only their second shot of the contest from Aaron Strawson at 11:15.

However the goal shouldn’t have stood, as it came from an offside pass from Brandon Miles.

The second session opened like the first, with the Bison having all the play, but to the disbelief of the home fans Invicta took the lead at 23:18 as Harrison Lillas scored with a nice wrist shot.

The lead lasted just over two minutes as Chris Cooke’s shot was not held by the netminder Conor Morris and from the ensuing goal mouth scramble man of the match Russ Cowley put the puck into the back of the net.

The Herd then took the lead at 28:55, thanks to a crisp blue line bullet from Jay King, after a lovely pass from Cowley.

The home side extended their lead two minutes later, as Cowley directed a shot from Cooke into the net.

The visitors felt it was from a high stick and after much arguing, Morris picked up a 10 minute misconduct penalty and Invicta captain Anthony Leone was dismissed after receiving a match penalty for obscene gestures aimed at referee Blaine Evans.

Any slim hopes Invicta had of getting anything out of this game vanished early in the third period, as the Herd scored twice in the space of 36 seconds.

Paul Petts with a lovely wrist shot from the hash marks got the first, quickly followed by a sweet strike from the blue line from Adam Jones.

The Bison then had a goal ruled out as the net came off its moorings, not for the first time during the contest.

However, they did add a seventh goal to their tally, as Elliott Dewey and the lively Oscar Evans combined for Petts to fire home his second of the night.

The Herd still had time to have another goal wiped out with 68 seconds left, as once again the net went walkabout.

So in truth, one might question that the win should have been bigger.

After the game Bison player/coach Ashley Tait said: “The two points is all that matters tonight. It was always going to be difficult and they are a hard team to break down.”

The Bison are in action this evening with a tricky trip to Streatham.