THE Basingstoke Buffalo extended their winning run to five games with an excellent 6-1 success over the visiting Cardiff Fire last Saturday, writes Graham Merry.

The Herd got off to a good start in the opening minute, as man of the match Scott Anda put the puck under the Cardiff netminder only for it to stop just before the goal line and was cleared.

However, the home side did not have to wait long to take the lead thanks to an excellent top shelf finish from Hallam Wilson, as he finished off a nice move which involved Paul Petts and Tom Banner.

The Buffalo made it 2-0 at 9:39, as Anda scored from close range assisted by Cam Buckle and Wilson.

The Herd continued to have the better of the game and the Cardiff goalie had to make an excellent double stop to deny Petts and Wilson.

Soon after, Harry Tempest saw his back handed shot saved and then a lovely feed from Anda saw Wilson ping the pipework as it remained 2-0 at the first buzzer.

The second session saw Cardiff have the upper hand and Dan Weller-Evans was called into action to deny Carter Lloyd on the breakaway.

The Welsh side looked the more likely to score, until a stray defensive pass released Petts and he produced a clinical finish to make it 3-0.

Just a minute later and the Buffalo grabbed a fourth as Anda found Sam Hemmings-Maher and his lovely pass allowed Wilson to skate in and score.

Weller-Evans then produced a great save to keep out Kris Kasjanovs’ effort.

The home side extended their lead further at 32:28, after Buckle released Anda, who side stepped the final defenceman before slotting home.

A minute later, Cardiff scored their only goal of the game from Lloyd to make it 5-1 at the second break.

For the final period Morgan Parsons took over in the Buffalo goal and produced a solid performance, as he saved all nine shots he faced.

At the other end, the Buffalo scored once thanks to a lovely wrist shot from Buckle in the final seconds of the game.

After the game a delighted Hallam Wilson, one of the Buffalo player coaches said: “It was great to keep our winning run going as we had a few guys missing this evening.”

Next up for the Buffalo is a home Hampshire derby clash with the Solent Junior Devils on Sunday, December 10 (6.30pm).