Cardiff Devils 5, Basingstoke Bison 2

THE Elite Ice Hockey League leaders Cardiff Devils ensured a miserable trip to Wales for Mark Bernard's Bison side, who slumped to another defeat on Sunday night.

Coming hot on the heels of their gritty previous day's 3-3 draw with Belfast Giants, the Bison travelled down the M4 feeling confident that they could come away with a similar result.

And they got off to a great start when, after an assist by Shaun Thompson, Michael Wales found the net by firing past Devils' netminder Jason Cugne after little more than one minute's play.

But the Devils responded quickly with goals from Nathan Rempel, at 7.55, and Dave Matsos, at 15.37, which put them ahead before the break.

The second period saw the home side increase their lead thanks to quick goals from Vezio Sacratini, on 32.57, and Jason Becker, at 37.30.

As they attempted to get back into the game, Mike Ford found the net for the Bison in the final period, at 50.28, following good assists by captain Shawn Maltby and Jerry Galway.

But this came too late to have much impact and Sacratini's second goal, into an empty net at 58.01, ensured Cardiff's win before Bison's Richard Hardy received a match penalty for head-butting.

Bison coach Bernard was unhappy with the discipline shown by his players, as their massive penalty count of 35 minutes to the Devils' four put them at a severe disadvantage for most of the game.

The Bison managed just 23 shots on Cugne's goal - and single figure tallies of seven, nine and seven in each period - while Ronnie Vogel had to face 43 efforts from the Devils.

Tonight, the Bison travel to Sheffield to take on the Steelers, and tomorrow night, at Planet Ice, they have the opportunity to gain revenge over Cardiff, who visit Basingstoke.

Bernard said: "We are looking forward to getting back on track by getting the points that will lift us off the bottom of the league."