THE Basingstoke Bison opened their Autumn Cup campaign in fine style, as they came from two goals down to win on home ice against the Sheffield Steeldogs 6-2.

The match did not start well for the Herd as the Yorkshire visitors made the most of their opening powerplay.

Duncan Spiers was found unmarked at the hash marks by Ben Morgan and he slotted home at 3:08.

It then got even worse for the home side, as Nathan Salem stole the puck off a Bison defenceman, which many felt should have been a penalty and scored shorthanded to make it 2-0 in the eighth minute.

The Bison hit back and levelled the game with two goals in the space of 34 seconds in the tenth minute.

The first came from Ashley Tait as he deflected a Tom Ralph blue line shot.

Then man of the match Richard Bordowski scored their second after a goal mouth scramble.

The Bison fans upped the noise level and nearly took the roof off, when Russ Cowley struck to give them a 3-2 advantage exactly on the 16-minute mark.

It completed a great comeback from the new look Herd and they took their lead in at the first buzzer.

The home side fans had only just got themselves settled in their seats for the second period, when goal number four arrived.

Just 56 seconds into the session, an Adam Jones blue line shot was tipped by Morris which Brandon Stones saved, but Bordowski put away the rebound.

Soon after, Sheffield’s Spiers hit the joint of the post and crossbar as the Steeldogs tried to get back into the contest.

A too many men on the ice call against Bison saw Jones denied by the pads of Stones with the Herd shorthanded.

They then suffered another quick penalty as Bordowski took a 2+10 for boarding.

This left the Herd two men down for 43 seconds, but thanks to Cowley, Ralph and Jay King they killed the 5-on-3 and then the 5-on-4 that followed.

The home side were then given their own powerplay, but it was Sheffield who went closest after Tim Smith released import Milan Kolena, but Alex Mettam came up with a great stop.

The Bison then extended their lead to 5-2, as Liam Morris powered down the right wing and let rip with a laser shot into the net at 37:07.

The Herd then silenced the Steeldogs bark for good, just 38 seconds into the final period as Hallam Wilson converted a Tait pass from close range.

The only other incident of the final 20 minutes was dismissal of both Morris and Smith in the final three minutes of the contest.

Morris receiving his marching orders for butt ending and Smith for fighting. The two coming together after the play had ended.

After the game Ashley Tait said: “It was great to get our first win, but I felt we did not play well in the first 20 minutes and told the guys so. They responded and I was pleased with the way we played in the final 40 minutes of the game.”

This evening, the Bison will be hoping to complete a quick cup double over Sheffield, when they travel to Yorkshire for a game which starts at 5.30pm.