Flames steal derby first leg honours

TWO goals in the first two minutes of the second period proved to be the difference between the sides as the Guildford Flames won in Basingstoke in another all-action derby game on Saturday.

The home side welcomed Daryl Lavoie back into the their line-up after missing five games, so Peter Nyman returned to bench-coach duties.

The visitors opened the better and were helped by the first powerplay of the night, when Lavoie departed for hooking Marc West at 4:27.

Two minutes later, the Bison defenceman stepped back on the ice and his cross saw Mike Ellis shoot just wide.

Soon after, Ellis was the provider with Chris Crombie denied by a great reflex save from Mike Torchia.

Referee Nigel Boniface let the game flow and, in the process, allowed the visitors' Paul Dixon to escape a blatant penalty when he snapped his stick in two, smashing it across Ryan Aldridge's stick.

At 15:26, Jason Lafreniere forced a good save out of Hay and, within a minute, the same player fed David Clarke but this time Matt Cote blocked the shot.

As the period came to a close, the game got more physical, with former Bison Tony Redmond in the thick of it, with a crunching check on Neil Liddiard one of a number of his hits.

Redmond also sparked off a flare-up on the final buzzer as he punched Nick Cross. Before he could retaliate, man-mountain Jason Bowen jumped in. Calm was restored and both teams left the ice with the score at 0-0.

The second session started in disastrous fashion for home fans as the Flames took just 28 seconds to score. Clarke picked up a loose puck in centre-ice and skated his way into the Bison end zone before firing home.

Before the Wella-backed side could respond, the visitors made it 2-0. Rick Plant won a face-off in the Bison end and Mark Galazzi, with a quick wrist-shot, somehow got the puck through Hay's pads and it trickled over the line at 21:53.

A minute later, a long pass from the impressive Dwight Parrish saw Campbell, at full-stretch, push the puck into the path of Crombie but, once again, Torchia came up with the save.

The first penalty of the period saw Jeff White depart for holding Crombie at 23:46 but it was Guildford who went closest to scoring as Torchia's high clearance went over the top of the Bison back line and allowed Derek DeCosty to skate in on Hay but he saved.

Another powerplay went begging three minutes later before the Bison pulled a goal back at 31:28 as Campbell's rebound effort was buried by Paul Berrington.

Seconds later, Hay was called upon to make a great save to deny Redmond from close range.

Redmond was, however, celebrating soon after as he was allowed to skate round the Bison end zone before burying the puck low into the net at 32:21.

As the period came to a close, a Ryan Aldridge shot from the right came off the pads of Torchia out to Parrish, who drilled it back. Somehow the Flames netminder blocked and you could see it was not going to be the home side's night.

The first incident of the third period saw Liddiard crashed in the boards again. This time the culprit did not escape as Galazzi picked up a 2+10 penalty for checking from behind.

The Flames then killed off the contest as they made the most of a three-man breakout for Clarke to score his second of the night at 46:08.

Soon after, Nicky Chinn was denied on a breakaway chance and that annoyed the Flames forward, who showed his anger for the rest of the contest, earning himself a penalty some four minutes later.

The home side pulled a goal back at 49:12. Crombie fed Campbell and he held off a defenceman to score.

As the clock ticked down, the home side removed their netminder for the extra skater and, with 20.5 seconds left on the clock, Lavoie looked to have pulled a goal back.

However, the effort was disallowed as the net was off its moorings. It had been pushed off by Lavoie when he was hit from behind by Ian Herbers. Herbers threatened again and Lavoie had to put up his stick to defend himself.

The exchange of words continued as Lavoie was dismissed for slashing and Herbers received two minutes for cross-checking, two for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

Bison coach Steve Moria said: "I think we played a smart game tonight but I felt we didn't get the bounces. Hopefully, we will next time."

Basingstoke had the chance for quick revenge last night as they faced the Flames again in Surrey.

Scoring, Bison: Campbell 1+1, Berrington 1+0, Liddiard, Cross, Crombie 0+1; Flames: Clarke 2+0, Redmond, Galazzi 1+0, Plant, West, Lafreniere, Lyons, White 0+1.

Shots on goal: Hay 33, Torchia 31. Penalties: Bison 27min, Flames 34.