Whitley Warriors 6 Basingstoke Buffalo 1 (Whitley won 12-7 on agg)

THE BUFFALO put up a brave fight before losing out to four final-period goals at Whitley on Sunday.

The visitors arrived in the North-East to find the machine for resurfacing the ice had broken down and rink staff were working to get the game on.

Already minus first-line players Mark Jordan and James Broadhurst, the visitors were not helped when top scorer Drew Campbell was stretchered off the ice in the first period after a low hit from Kevin Bucas injured his knee. The star forward could be used only sparingly for the remainder of the game.

After a 6-6 tie in Basingstoke on Saturday, Whitley drew first blood on Sunday as Andrew Carter scored from close range at 2:03.

The rest of the period was an even affair, despite the loss of Campbell, and ended 1-0.

The only goal of the second session came at 31:08 as Karl Culley scored while Anthony Page had a couple of good chances for the visitors.

The final period got off to a dream start for the Buffalo as Page netted after 28 seconds from Campbell and Elliott.

Two minutes later, Whitley restored their two-goal cushion through Carter and Darren Taylor made it 4-1 at 44:34.

As the visitors tried to claw their way back into the contest, the home side added a fifth through Lee Baxter.

At that point, Craig Astill, Buffalo man-of-the-match for the second night running, was replaced by Dominic Bridger.

The home side managed to add a sixth goal in the final minute through Daniel Good and also had Richard Dunn dismissed for spearing Adrian Worship.

Buffalo coach Ed Campbell said: "I could not have asked for more from the guys but, in the end, we ran out of gas."

He said: "We had to open it up after we went 3-1 down so the scoreline does not reflect how close the game was."

This means Whitley are the play-off champions for the third year running and next season are looking to move up to the English Premier League after their latest success."