THE Basingstoke Bison just missed out on lifting the South Cup trophy, as they were beaten 6-5 on aggregate this evening, after they drew 4-4 in Peterborough.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, it was the Herd who opened the scoring at 28:12 as man of the match George Norcliffe scored assisted by Michal Klejna and Adam Jones.

The Bison then took the lead overall in the tie, as Hallam Wilson struck from a Klejna pass.

The home side hit back as Ales Padelek netted for the Phantoms, but the Bison then made it 3-1 on the night, after Klejna scored on the powerplay from Jones and Tait.

With 36 seconds left in the second session, Peterborough pulled one back from Nathan Pollard.

However, just 96 seconds into the final session, the Bison made it 4-2 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate after Norcliffe netted his second of the evening assisted by Klejna and Wilson.

The home side then pulled a goal back on the powerplay from Padelek.

Then on the final powerplay of the night they scored again from man of the match James Ferrara at 49:38.

This gave the Phantoms the lead on aggregate and the Herd tried their best to level things, including pulling their goalie for the final minute, but it was all in vain.

This weekend, the Bison conclude their league campaign ahead of the play-offs with a home game against Milton Thunder on Saturday (6.30pm), before a trip to face Invicta Dynamos.

Bison player/coach Tait said: "We will look to finish the league well as we gear up for the play-offs."

The Herd need to win both games and Peterborough have to not pick up a single point for the Bison to pip them for second.