No peace for Ayr

After Nottingham Panthers' 5-3 defeat of Ayr Scottish Eagles in the Benson & Hedges Cup at Sheffield on Saturday, Superleague hostilities resumed on Sunday with Ayr entertaining Bracknell Bees and Panthers welcoming Basingstoke Bison.

Bees were the southerners to give the best account of themselves in a see-saw match with Ayr showing no sign of post-Cup defeat hangover. Vince Boe gave Ayr the lead after six minutes but Bees fought back to lead 5- 3 at the end of the second period with five different scorers beating Colum Cavilla in the Ayr net.

Ayr showed the sort of spirit they could have used at Sheffield, with Boe and Scott Young levelling the game with 16 minutes to go. With eight minutes left, Jamie Steer looked to have scored the winner for Eagles only for Wayde Bucsis to tie the score at 6-6 with two minutes to go. Ayr must have wanted anything but overtime but they rallied and held Bees for the statutory 10 minutes with the points shared.

Nottingham, in contrast, had a fairly easy wind down. Bison were beaten 6-1 but the margin was more down to the Panthers keeper, Trevor Robbins, who let by only one of the 30 shots on goal he faced, rather than Basingstoke's lack of ability.

Panthers' win moved them up to third from bottom of the Superleague but Cardiff Devils still head the league after their 4-3 victory over Sheffield Steelers. Devils were 4-2 up when Tommy Plommer scored for Steelers. With neither the referee or linesman seeing it, it was left to the goal judge to adjudicate and he awarded the goal. Devils managed to hold on for the victory, which meant that judge could breathe a huge sigh of relief.