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Hi there again Bee Army!   Well an up and down couple of games last time out – but a great way to finish the weekend on Sunday night at the Hive – with a win over our local rivals the Wildcats.

Unfortunately last Saturday against the Steeldogs up in Sheffield we had a game to forget.   We went behind very early and struggled to get back into the game and the Steeldogs were clinical and finished us off.   Individual mistakes during the match cost us and I felt we were second to the fifty/fifty pucks and lacked a little spark.   I was happy with the discipline we showed, only taking one penalty all night.   It didn’t help losing Lukas early on (to add to the already missing Carl Graham, Peter Jasik and Brad Watchorn) but the game was effectively over once the Steeldogs got their fourth goal early in the third period as the short bench starting taking a toll.

Back to the Hive on Sunday to take on the Wildcats – and what a turnaround!   We went into the match with a game plan, stuck to it and got the reward I felt we fully deserved.   We played a high tempo, aggressive, in your face but disciplined game – which we both needed and wanted to do in front of the home crowd, we saw it through and a great team effort from everyone meant that we took the game to the Wildcats for large chunks of the game.  It was also good to see that the guys never gave up and got back into the game twice after the ‘Cats had taken the lead.   Sergejs overtime winner was just the reward I think we deserved for the performance we had put in – and it was great to close the gap a bit on the Wildcats.

Over the weekend I was very happy with the discipline we showed (only five minor penalties all weekend) and also the way the guys bounced back so well from Saturday nights result to pull together and put in a great team effort on Sunday.   The penalty kill worked well over the weekend too (when needed) and I was pleased with that as it is something that we have been actively working on in training.   

This weekend we were due to face the Slough Jets in a double header weekend however the game at Slough on Saturday has had to be postponed due to some issues with the ice.   So instead we now have an extra day off on Saturday before heading returning to action at the Hive on Sunday.   Make no mistake Sundays game is sure to be a tough one against one of the top teams in the league – and with some of the players we may still have missing it is going to be even tougher but we showed last Sunday just how we can pull together and still come away with the result.   

The Jets have a strong roster with a solid netminder and impressive firepower up front too so we will have to be at our very best to ensure that we take something away from the weekend.   At the Hive we have already taken three points from the four available so will be looking to add to this on Sunday.   There are a lot of familiar faces to Bees fans on the Jets roster and this tends to make match ups between the two sides that bit more intense, feisty and, I am sure for you fans, entertaining.   

On a final note, I and the team would like to thank you all for the great support and noise throughout the game on Sunday against the Wildcats.   It really helped spur on our shortened bench and the eruption when the game winner went in during overtime was great to hear.   Thanks again and please keep it loud and proud as we keep battling on.

Coxy

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