THE Basingstoke Bison produced a great come from behind victory, as they scored four unanswered goals to beat the visiting Raiders from Romford 4-2.

This was despite being minus injured trio, import Richard Bordowski and Brits Paul Petts and Oscar Evans.

The first 20 minutes saw the home side have the better of things, but Michael Gray in the visitor’s net was in great form to keep the Bison out.

The pick of his saves was when he denied Liam Morris and then Michael Klejna, when he was released by a great stretch pass from Alex Sampford.

At the other end the closest the Raiders came was from JJ Pitchley, but Herd man of the match Alex Mettam kept him out.

The second session continued like the first with the Bison looking the better side, but it was the Raiders who took the lead in the contest.

A Sean Barry shot flew past the net, hit the backboard and was collected by Blahoslav Novak to score.

The home side went looking for an equaliser and the impressive Bayley Harewood slipped over as he took a pass from Ashley Tait but was still able to get to his feet and get a smart shot away which tested Gray.

As the game entered the final minute of the second period, the visitor’s added a second goal, as man of the match Oliver Baldock netted his own rebound.

That was with 46.4 seconds left on the clock, but there was still time for the Herd to open their account.

Klejna skated around the back of the net and jabbed the puck home with 27.4 seconds left.

Ashley Tait and Adam Harding picked up the assists on the goal.

The final period started with the Bison levelling the game at 42:48, after Ryan Sutton tipped home an Adam Jones shot on the powerplay.

This was Sutton’s first Herd goal since returning to the Bison in the summer.

Three minutes later, the home side struck on another man advantage, thanks to a sweet blue line strike from Tom Ralph.

At this point the Raiders called a time out and almost immediately Olegs Lascenko tested Bison goalie Mettam with a blue line shot.

Soon after, former Bison Dan Scott headed to the sin bin for roughing after tempers boiled over in the Raiders’ goal crease.

The home side made the most of yet another powerplay, this time it was Jones with a blue line bullet that lite the goal light at 49:27 making it 4-2.

Seconds later, the visitors were given a powerplay, but thanks to two smart stops by Mettam, both Marek Malinsky and Scott were denied.

The final man advantage of the evening was awarded to the home side after an awful hit by Callum Wells on Harewood, as he skated at full speed down the left wing.

The young forward fell to the ice and teammate Josh Kelly flew in with fists flying at the Raider.

This earned Kelly a two-minute roughing penalty, while Wells was lucky to escape with just a 2+10 for a check to the head and another two minutes for roughing.

Only a great reflex stop by Gray denied Jones a second powerplay goal of the night and once back to full strength Mettam made a great save from JJ Pitchley from close range.

With two minutes left in the game, the visitors pulled their goalie and piled on the pressure, with the Bison twice narrowly missing the empty net.

After the game Bison player/coach Ashley Tait said: “It was a good win considering we were missing some players. I felt we really dominated the last period.”

This evening (6pm), the Herd are away at the home of the Telford Tigers.