THE Basingstoke Bison were unable to avenge their home loss on Saturday night against Hull, as they lost on the road 8-5 to the Pirates on Sunday night.

The home side opened the scoring at 6:53 from Jonathan Kirk and added a second from Matty Davies, before the Herd pulled a goal back just before the buzzer.

Ashley Tait scored on the powerplay from Adam Jones and George Norcliffe.

The home side took 49 seconds of the second session to make it 3-1, as James Archer netted and Kirk grabbed a fourth.

The Herd hit back to make it 4-3, as Alex Sampford scored on the powerplay assisted by Russ Cowley and Richard Bordowski.

Bordowski then scored their third from Cowley and Sampford.

However, the Pirates added a fifth before the interval from Davies.

They then killed off the contest with three unanswered goals in the final period, as Lee Bonner (shorthanded), Archer and Aaron Lyon all scored.

The Bison then wrapped up the scoring at 58:18, from man of the match Cowley assisted by Tait and Jones.

This Saturday, the Herd start their defence of their league crown when the Raiders are the visitors to Basingstoke.