The Invicta Dynamos fell to a 5-3 defeat to defending champions the Basingstoke Bison despite a spirited effort.

Dynamos were without Ondrej Zosiak but added new signing, netminder Connor Morris. The visitors missed Cameron Buckle, Oscar Evans and Samuel Brooks.

Goals were scored by Grant Bartlett, Callum Best and Martin Susters but could not match the visitors’ five goals.

Dynamos battled the Bisons for dominance in the first period. Connor Morris saved several shots from Bison players Liam Morris, George Norcliffe and Richard Bordowski but kept the puck out of the net, as did Bison netminder Alex Mettam.

With a scrappy opening twenty minutes and both teams having received several penalties, the score remained 0-0.

The second period begun with Grant Bartlett firing a shot at 22:28 into the Bison net. However, the visitors quickly equalised as Alex Sampford took a shot after a pass from ex-dynamo Tommy Ralph.

Both teams continued to battle and fire against the opponent. In the Bison zone, Callum Best was set up by Louis Colvin and fired a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net giving the Dynamos a 2-1 lead.

Bison’s player coach Ashley Tait skated into the zone and was left alone with Morris as he ducked past the defence and put the puck between the legs of the netminder, which made the score 2-2.

The Bisons put Morris to the test again as a close shot from Hallam Wilson led to Morris flat on his back with the puck beneath him.

The scappy second period came to a close as Bison player Richard Bordowski poked home a rebound which gave the visitors a 3-2 lead.

The third period started very similar to the second, as both teams tried to dominate the other. G. Bartlett was sent to the penalty box for a late hit giving the Bison’s Chris Cooke the chance to score the powerplay goal. Increasing their lead to 4-2.

Arran Strawson fired a rocket slapshot towards Mettam but G. Bartlett failed to complete the rebound.

Dynamos called for a time out with two minutes left of the period. Bison’s Ralph was sent to penalty box for delay of game which gave the Dynamos an upper hand for the remainder of the game.

However the Bison received a penalty shot taken by Michal Klejna who found the back of the net. Increasing their lead to 5-2 with only 57 seconds left of the game.

Both teams fought for the puck in the Bison zone for the last minute.

Susters lined up and fired a slapshot which flew past the head of the Bison netminder and into the net making the score 5-3 with 9 seconds left.

After a close, scrappy game; the Basingstoke Bison prevailed as they took home a 5-3 win. Both teams fought for dominance, but it was the Bison who led the scoring at Planet Ice Gillingham.

Invicta Dynamos: Grant Bartlett 1+0, Callum Best 1+0, Louis Colvin 0+1, Martin Susters 1+0.

Basingstoke Bison: Alex Sampford 1+0, Tommy Ralph 0+1, Ashley Tait 2+0, Richard Bordowski 1+0, Chris Cooke 1+0.