Basingstoke Bison 4, Nottingham Panthers 7

THE last time Simon Kirkham was due to referee a game in Basingstoke, he got struck in traffic and didn't make it.

On Saturday night, Bison fans will have wished the same thing had happened again as the Midland-based official awarded a con-troversial game-winning goal to the visiting Nottingham Panthers.

David Struch put the puck into an unguarded net as Bison netminder Curtis Cruickshank lay on the ice after a check from by Panthers' John Craighead.

The Basingstoke shot-stopper said: "I was taken out and nearly ended up in the corner. When I questioned the referee, he said one of our defenceman had knocked Craighead into me."

Craighead had already illegally up-ended blue-liner Mark McCoy to get to the goalie but the Nottingham forward went unpunished. Team-mate Briane Thompson must have wondered what he had done wrong to deserve two spells in the sin bin.

The visitors scored two empty-net goals in the last minute through Joel Salonen and Craighead to give the scoreline a one-sided feel.

Earlier in the contest, the Wella-backed Bison, minus Canadian forward Matt Reid with a shoulder injury, took the lead at 5:07 as James Hutchinson's low pass found Joe Ciccarello.

Christian Widauer skated across the front of Panthers' netminder Niklas Sundberg and the goalie went down as if to save from him, giving Ciccarello the chance to slot home.

The visitors were level a minute later as Panthers man-of-the-match Kim Ahlroos was sent clear on what looked like an offside pass from Calle Carlsson.

The home side regained the lead from their own man-of-the-match as Martin Filip's shot from the right went in off the back skate of Sundberg at 11:02.

It then became 3-1 as Filip's pass found its way to guest player from Peterborough Jesse Hammill and he slotted home.

The visitors got a dream start to the second period as Ahlroos scored after 40 seconds when he buried his own rebound.

The home side hit back 50 seconds later as Phil Roy's blue-line shot hit the back of the net with Sundberg having conceded four goals from eight shots. The Panthers again came back as Ahlroos netted a superb top-corner shot to complete his hat-trick.

The visitors tied the game short-handed after Ahlroos broke clear again. This time, Cruickshank was equal to him and saved. But the Panthers forward recovered the rebound and crossed for Marc Cadotte to score at 29:20.

Three minutes later, came the controversial game winner and the comeback was complete. The final five minutes of the period saw Steve Moria denied on a breakaway chance and Widauer hit the post.

The final period was an even affair with few clear-cut chances.

In the final minute Cruickshank was removed for the extra skater. When Panthers' Salonen scored, an exchange between normally mild-mannered Bison bench coach Luc Chabot and Kirkham resulted in the Canadian being asked to leave the bench, even though no penalty was called.

Scoring; Bison: Filip 1+2, Hammill, Ciccarello 1+1, Roy 1+0, Hutchinson, Moria 0+1; Panthers: Ahlroos 3+1, Craighead 1+3, Salonen, Cadotte 1+1, Struch 1+0, Carlsson 0+2, Stancok, Levers, Taubert, Moran 0+1. Shots on goal: Cruickshank 33, Sundberg 27. Penalties: Bison 4min, Panthers 6.

On Tuesday, December 9, at (7.30pm) the Bison are hoping to have new defenceman Doug Schueller in their line-up for the game against Sheffield Steelers. Forward Matt Reid is doubtful but Peterborough's Jesse Hammill and Milton Keynes' Michael Wales are expected to be in the line-up.