Basingstoke Buffalo 4, Invicta Dynamos 7

THE Basingstoke Buffalo gave league champions Invicta Dynamos a run for their money on Saturday but ended up losing.

The Gowrings/Safeway-backed side will now try to bounce back on Sunday (6.30pm) and complete a play-off double over the visiting Oxford City Stars.

The defeat on Saturday ended the Buffalo chances of retaining their national play-off crown as Invicta have won the southern group and will now meet the winners of the northern section.

Last Saturday, Invicta netted twice before Simon Beere scored from man-of-the-match Tom Pope to make it 2-1 at the first break.

Early in the second session, Drew Campbell, assisted by Anthony Page, levelled the scores, only for Invicta to regain the lead.

Greg Wyatt tied the game for the second time at 33:56, finishing a move involving Pope and Ryan Cathcart.

Invicta made the most of a two-man advantage to make it 4-3 at the second period buzzer.

The final session was just 26 seconds old when Beere equalised again for the Buffalo, from Rob Etheridge and Pope.

Two goals in 29 seconds later in the period ended the contest as Invicta made it 6-4. And an empty-net goal from former Basingstoke Beaver Phil Chard in the final minute completed the scoring.

The Sunday before, the Buffalo collected their second away win of the play-offs and their first of the season over Oxford City Stars.

The 5-2 win did not, however, go completely to plan as former Buffalo Darren Elliott opened the scoring after 48 seconds. But, 23 seconds later, Page put the Buffalo level from a Campbell pass.

The visitors took the lead at 6:57, when Mark Jordan netted, assisted by Campbell, and their lead was extended to 3-1 before the period end, after Beere fired home from Cathcart.

The Buffalo added a fourth goal in the second session as Beere converted a Jordan cross. Despite facing 17 shots in the period, the visitors' man-of-the-match Craig Astill was in excellent form and was beaten only once - by Derek Flint.

The only goal in a competitive final period came from the vis-itors as Beere completed his hat-trick, assisted by Page and Wyatt.

The week before, the Buffalo won 6-1 at Milton Keynes Thunder, with the opening goal of the game coming from Beere at 21:44. Page added a second goal before Thunder's player-coach Michael Knights was thrown out for cross-checking Nigel Sheppard.

The visitors capitalised on the powerplay as Beere fired home and then Page netted number four.

Milton Keynes got on the scoreboard at 37:41 through Jim Ryan but, with 35 seconds left in the period, Etheridge made it 5-1. The final goal of the contest arrived at 43:39 as Page completed his hat-trick.

Last Sunday, Basingstoke Bison forward Shaun Thompson scored the opening goal in Eng-land under-19s' 3-1 win over their Scottish counterparts in Nottingham. Later in the day, Sheffield Steelers clinched the Elite League play-off crown with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Panthers.