Telford Tigers beaten late on at Basingstoke Bison with some controversy
Telford Tigers lost ground in the NIHL National League after falling to a late defeat at Basingstoke Bison.
Tigers took the lead through Harry Ferguson in the second period in a low-scoring clash in Hampshire, before the hosts netted a controversial equaliser right at the death of the period.
The contest remained level until the final minutes before Alex Stampford scored Bison's crucial second on the break. Former Tigers man Adam Harding fired from range into an empty net late on as Tom Watkins' visitors pushed for an equaliser.
The moment of controversy came as the hosts' Brendan Sellan scored an equaliser a split-second before the buzzer for the end of the second period, according to referees Brooks and Goodfellow after debate.
Tigers boss Watkins felt his side were good value for something from the clash without being at their best.
He said: “That was not our best performance but we were unfortunate not to pick up the points and deserved something from the game.
"I thought we were slow starters again today, our power play was sloppy in the first period and I don’t think we got a shot on goal through the whole of our power play.
"We didn’t create a lot of quality chances offensively. A lot of passes and shots got stick checked or blocked and we had no quality at all throughout the game. The only positive was that our penalty kill was solid.”
There was nothing to separate the sides in a tight first period, with Tigers attempting to buck a recent trend of slow starts in games.
Basingstoke sit second-bottom but have played six games fewer than Telford after a delayed start to their campaign due to a new rink.
Scot Ferguson kept up his good recent form with a wrap around goal to open the scoring midway through the second period and put Watkins' men in a strong position.
Tigers appeared set for the final period with the goal advantage before Sellan tucked in the rebound from Luke Spadafora seemingly as the buzzer sounded.
The best chance of the third period fell to Tigers skipper Scott McKenzie, who was denied by netminder Max Wright after good work from David Thomson.
It seemed overtime would be required but Telford's Nick Oliver had a pass blocked on the blue line and Stampford did the rest with a cool finish before Harding's third added a cruel look to the scoreline.
