Basingstoke Bison 4, Newcastle Vipers 0

THE Basingstoke Bison's stampede towards sixth spot in the Elite League was maintained on Saturday night as a convincing 4-0 victory over the visiting Newcastle Vipers made it four wins on the trot.

The Herd, who secured a play-off spot on Wednesday night when Edinburgh lost, are now two points behind sixth-placed Manchester Phoenix with a game in hand.

In Saturday's excellent win, man-of-the-match Brad Cruikshank netted twice, while netminder Curtis Cruickshank collected his second Bison shut-out of the season.

Once again, over 1,000 people packed into the Basingstoke Arena and they were treated to a fast-flowing, entertaining game.

Newcastle's Canadian goalie Peter Aubry returned from injury and was tested from the opening face-off as the Herd came flying out of the blocks.

It took them just 76 seconds to open the scoring as Cruikshank rifled a shot into the roof of the net.

The Newcastle goalie was like a duck in a shooting gallery as the chances came thick and fast for the home side, with the visitors unable to live with the movement they created.

A rare excursion into the Basingstoke offensive end saw Pavol Mihalik's deflected shot hit a post, but normal service returned soon after.

All three forward lines were creating chances and a deserved second goal came in the 15th minute as Cruikshank cracked in a shot off the crossbar. Greg Chambers forced the opening and Greg Owen provided the killer pass.

The second session continued in much the same way as the first and, once again, the combination of Owen, Cruikshank and Chambers struck.

They completely carved open the Newcastle defence with some tic-tac-toe passing as Chambers applied the finish at 21:25.

The game opened up and chances came at both ends, although it was the Bison who had the better ones as Newcastle's efforts were often from long range or out by the boards as the Bison defence held firm.

For the Herd, it was Kevin Bergin who forced Aubry into a number of good saves.

With the frustration starting to get to the visitors, they increased their physical game as the game approached the second buzzer.

A late cross-check by Vipers' Paul Ferone on Bison Duncan Dalmao sent him crashing to the ice but, much to the displeasure of the home fans, he was not sent to the sin bin.

Fears that the penalty kings of the Elite League would try to muscle their way back into the contest in the third period proved unfounded.

Instead, the Vipers played their best hockey of the game as Bison goalie Cruickshank earned his shut-out with a string of fine saves.

The impressive Jonathan Weaver, leading by example, moved the puck down the ice and set up a number of chances for his forwards.

Suddenly, the Vipers, who had looked as dangerous as a grass snake for the first two periods, had some bite.

Weaver hit the post with a shot in the 45th minute after Rod Hinks and Iain Fraser had forced saves.

The visitors' momentum was then stopped in its tracks with nine minutes to go by a Bison powerplay strike as Bergin fired home from a backhanded pass from Blair Manning.

Basingstoke defenceman Eric Braff nearly added a fifth as his shot came off the skate of the Newcastle goalie and the post before going to safety.

As the final buzzer sounded it was fitting that Bison goalie Cruickshank had the puck in his glove from one last save.

The netminder, who started the season in Newcastle, had come back to haunt his former team mates with a 46-shot shut-out.

Talking after the Herd's victory, Bison boss Doug Sheppard said: "This was another great win for us and I felt in the first period we could have been at least 5-0 up with the scoring opportunities we created.

"We eased off in the third period, but I am pleased with the result which keeps us in the hunt for sixth place, especially as Manchester lost."

The action comes thick and fast for Basingstoke this week. Last night they were at league leaders Coventry Blaze and tomorrow night they travel to the Nottingham Panthers. On Thursday, they have an away game at Manchester.

Scoring: Bison: Cruikshank 2+1, Chambers 1+1, Bergin 1+0, Owen 0+3, Dalmao, Manning, Braff 0+1.
Shots on Goal: Cruickshank 46, Aubry 34.
Penalties: Bison 4min, Vipers 8.