The Basingstoke Buffalo were crowned play-off champions after an enthralling final at Alexandra Palace, as they beat the Haringey Huskies 3-2.

Xander Robinson scored an absolutely exquisite game-winning goal in the final two minutes of the contest to secure the victory.

This was after Harry Harcup and Cam Buckle combined which released Robinson and the young Buffalo forward held off a Haringey defenceman and calmly slotted home.

Earlier in the contest, after a goalless first period, the Herd scored two unanswered in the middle session.

Alex Sampford netted the first just 33 seconds into the period from an excellent feed from Paul Petts.

Soon after, the Buffs stuck again as Tom Banner released Buckle and he produced a superb finish.

At 49:15, Haringey opened their account from John Beldecos, as Herd man of the match Dan Weller-Evans was finally beaten.

Then two minutes later, Joe Tearall levelled the score and this set-up a tense final nine minutes.

Just when it looked like the game would be heading for overtime, Robinson superb strike sealed the deal for the Buffalo.

On the previous day, the Herd booked their place in the final and turned the form book upside down, knocking out the number one seeds and league champions the Guildford Phoenix.

They beat their Surrey rivals 5-2 and never looked back after Robinson released Buckle, who fired the puck into the top corner to make it 1-0 at the first buzzer.

In the middle session, the Buffs netted a second as Carl Graham found Harry Harcup and he released man of the match Hallam Wilson to score shorthanded.

The lead extended to 3-0 as a save by Weller-Evans saw Tom Banner clear the puck to Wilson and he produced a superb one-on-one finish against the Phoenix netminder.

Guildford hauled themselves back into the contest before the second break as Theo Siro converted a penalty shot and then Ollie Denis made it 3-2 with 11 minutes left in the game.

The Buffalo hit back almost immediately as Wilson completed his hat-trick with a lovely wrist shot.

As the clock ticked down, Guildford pulled their netminder, and Alex Sampford hit the empty net, completing the 5-2 victory.

After a triumphant weekend one of the Buffalo player coaches Paul Petts said: “This was a great achievement for everyone involved with the team. We were given no chance back in September and just got better week after week, so this was a great way to end the season.”