King Kubenko returns to reclaim his crown

Bison 5 Swindon Wildcats 2

26/10/11

What a difference one player can make. Savvy Slovak, Viktor Kubenko, a greater mega hero than even Buzz Lightyear, looked capable of propelling Bison to infinity and beyond with the sort of inspirational performance the Basingstoke crowd had been hoping he would produce on his return to the herd. However it wasn’t all plain sailing. The Wildcats moved into a 2 goal lead and had Bison shut out until the 33^rd minute. It really was a “game of two halves”.

Bison fell behind in the 16^th minute. Kurt Reynolds found himself caught in a 2 on 1 between Czech Republicans, Cesky and Pinc. If he had been as large as Fatty Foulke (a 20 stone football goalkeeper – yes really Google him if you don’t believe me), he might have stood a chance. Alas Kurt is nowhere near as wide as the famous Sheffield United colossus and a clever interchange between the bouncing Czechs resulted in Cesky finding the net. Jan Melichar, yet another Czech, picked up the second assist.

Bison needed to take control from the start of the second period, but calamity struck within 22 seconds of the restart. Hoog and Richardson set up James Knight (none of them Czechs) in front of goal. He deked and slotted home top shelf past Dean Skinns. 2-0.

With half the match gone, Bison didn’t look like they were capable of even buying a goal, this match following a home shut out against the Milton Keynes Lightning, which meant they had gone past 90 minutes on home ice without a goal. However, it looked like all it would take would be for one to go in and there could be more. And so it proved. The stage was set for Viktor Kubenko, the savvy Slovak, the Slovak machine, King Kubo, Robot Man or whatever you want to call him. On 33 minutes Kubenko, set up by Chinn and Bronnimann, hammered home from in front of goal. The crowd, who at the start of the game had given him a reception worthy of royalty, went beserk.

3 minutes later Bison levelled it at 2-2. Nicky Chinn’s shot rebounded to guess who? Kubenko smashed the puck into the Wildcats’ net. Sam Oakford took the second assist.

It didn’t take long at the start of the third for Bison to edge into the lead for the first time in the game. 21 seconds to be precise. Petran fed Kubenko who moved forward using his characteristic one handed stick handling technique and then slipped an inch perfect pass to Ollie Bronnimann. The man from Margate rifled the puck into the net for 3-2.

Less than a minute later Swindon thought they had tied it up at 3-3, but the referee had a contrary opinion. He adjudged the net to have come off its moorings before the puck crossed the line and the “goal” was chalked off. Instead of getting back on level terms, the Wildcats found themselves even further behind a minute later. 4-2 it was. The scorer at the back door was Liam Chong after some nice approach play by Craig Tribe and Jacob Heron.

4 minutes later Joe Miller found himself with a chance to make it 5-2, but as he bore down on goal and about to pull the trigger, he was taken down from behind and the opportunity was lost. An incredulous crowd were left wondering why no infraction was called and a penalty shot awarded. It seemed very clear from Block C, but not to the bespectacled referee, Dave Cloutman. Miller, obviously frustrated by this injustice, decided to exact vigilante revenge shortly afterwards, but alas ended up in the box for slashing. He must have been left wondering about the referee’s selective eyesight.

In the 49^th minutes the Bison crowd were elevated to a new level of nirvana. Assisted by released prisoner Miller and Nicky Chinn, the savvy Slovak, Viktor Kubenko, smashed in his hat-trick goal. It was just like a fairy story, only it wasn’t Snow White who was doing the scoring. The crowd exhibited their appreciation of the returning hero in the most vociferous fashion. The man had picked up from where he left off last season, a season in which he bagged no fewer than 48 goals. You can keep Buzz Lightyear.

With 2 minutes left on the clock there was a sudden set to between Petran and Cesky which mushroomed into an incident of the most unsavoury variety. Every single skater on the ice as well as the three officials were involved. They bunched together as if trying to keep warm. So close were they that Tom Mix (Google him as well) could have thrown a lasso around the jostling group. What went on is anyone’s guess – it was impossible to see. There didn’t appear to be any flying fists, but there was plenty of everything else as the players let their opinions be known to each other. On termination of the hostilities, no fewer than 8 players, 4 from each team, found themselves in the box. Maybe it should have been 5 each, but there simply wasn’t any bench space left. Cesky picked up a 2+2+5 and a game penalty for high sticking, slashing and  roughing – an impressive collection. Not many more offences he could have committed. Petran also attracted a game penalty. Highlight of the evening (yes even more entertaining than Kubo’s treble) was the 4 miscreants in the Bison box indulging in Mexican waves until spoken to rather sternly about their frivolous conduct by a disapproving Mr. Cloutman.

All in all a fantastic night for the Bison team and fans. Kubenko’s goals were not the only thing he brought to the team. His presence seemed to inspire the players and imbue them with a confidence that looked completely lacking in the shut out against Lightning. He received the man of the match award – merely a box of Budweiser when Champagne would have been more appropriate. A word, though, for Tony Redmond who played a rock solid game on the blue line …… and beyond, but maybe not to infinity.