SWINDON Wildcats were caught up in the Basingstoke Bison stampede as they suffered a 5-1 loss on the road.

Sam Bullas stunned the home crowd when he fired home in just the third minute but strikes from Joe Greener and Stuart Mogg had the hosts in front at the break.

Ciaran Long and Shaun Thompson extended the hosts’ lead in the second period before Miroslav Vantroba completed the scoring five minutes from the end of the game.

Swindon were given the perfect start in the third minute as they opened the scoring with just their second shot on goal.

Corey McEwen picked up the loose puck down the left before squaring to Bullas to fire home from a central position.

Basingstoke found themselves back level seconds after Ryan Watt came out of the sinbin.

The loose puck fell to Ciaran Long in the seventh minute, whose effort is blocked by Jordan Hedley, but Greener is following up to slam the puck home.

Greener then turned provider as his pass from the left in the 17th minute found Mogg unmarked in the centre and he was able to fire home.

Hedley got a glove to the puck but not enough to keep it from dropping into the net behind him as Swindon ended the first period trailing.

Bison stepped up the pressure in the second period and it wasn’t long before a fine Long goal extended the hosts’ lead.

The Brit was played in down the left by Miroslav Vantroba before letting fly with a rocket that Hedley could not pick up.

Basingstoke were well on top when they scored their fourth of the game in the 28th minute.

Kurt Reynolds had a shot from the blue line, which was stopped by the legs of Hedley but ricocheted into the path of Thompson who poked the puck home into an empty net.

Nell called a time out to re-gather his newly assigned troops, but the game got even tougher for the visitors when McEwen was given a five plus game penalty for high sticks in the 34th minute.

However, Swindon did not buckle and were able to hold on a man light and nearly pulled a goal back seconds before the buzzer sounded when Aaron Nell fired just over Tomas Hiadlovsky’s net.

The fact Swindon did not register a shot on target in the 20 minutes summed up the difficult period for the Cats.

Things did not get easier in the final period as the home side continued to dominate and were rewarded in the 55th minute when Connolly saw and effort blocked but the loose puck was rifled home by Vantroba.

The game ended with three Swindon and two Bison players in the sinbin after a coming together between Greener and Carlo Finucci in the dying second in front of the Swindon bench.