Published: Thursday, 21st February, 2008 10:35
EPL Cup glory for Bees
By Charles Watts
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Jan Melichar was the Bees hero at the Hangar on Wednesday night.
Slough Jets 1
Bracknell Bees 3 (after overtime)
Bees win 6-5 on aggregate
AN OVERTIME strike from Jan Melichar clinched the EPL Cup for the Bees on a thrilling evening at the Hangar last night (Wednesday).
Bracknell went into the game knowing they had to overturn a 4-3 deficit from last Thursday’s first leg and with two heavy defeats on Slough’s patch this season still fresh in their minds.
To make matters worse they had to do it without their inspirational player/coach Dwight Parrish who was suspended but the Bees, who have a developed a real thirst for silverware in recent years, made light of all those factors on a night of glory.
Credit also has to go to the management at the Hive. New owner Katie Eleftheriou and all of the people around her who helped save the Bees from going out of business under three months ago have had all of their efforts rewarded in the perfect way.
The game started with Bracknell immediately on the front foot, it was clear they were not just there to make up the numbers while Slough eased to the trophy in front of their own fans.
Instead the Bees kept the hosts pressed back and they went in front on 6.29 when Peter Jasik fired home a powerplay goal. It was no more than the visitors deserved and they comfortably held out to go into the break with a 1-0 advantage.
Things got even better for the home side just over a minute into the second period when Ryan Watt scored on the rebound after Jasik’s shot had been saved. The goal put the Bees two up on the night but more importantly put them 5-4 up on aggregate.
It looked for a long spell that Bracknell would maintain their lead going into the final break but with just one minute of the session remaining Richard Hargreaves pounced on a mistake from Gregg Rockman to get Slough back in the game. Moments later Rockman more than made up for his misdemeanour, however, when he produced a stunning save to deny Joe Ciccarello.
Understandably, with the tie on a knife-edge at 5-5, both sides were nervy in the final period and there were strong hits going in all over the ice.
Melichar was left with a bloody nose after one such incident and ironically enough had to don one of the suspended Parrish’s jerseys for the closing stages.
Neither side could find the winning goal in the final session so the thrilling final went to overtime and Jasik almost settled matters just 20 seconds into the extra period but he saw his crashing effort bounce of the post.
But the Bees were not to be denied and after some fine play from Michal Kanka, the puck fell kindly to Melichar who, in his coach’s and friend’s shirt popped up to fire home the glorious winner.
Bracknell captain Adam Bicknell was given the job of going up to receive the trophy on his former stomping ground.
He ecstatically lifted it high into the air to send his team-mates and the masses of Bracknell fans who had made the short journey down the M4 wild.
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