What a difference a day makes, writes Dave Wright.

Bracknell Bees secured their first EPIHL points of the season with a 7-2 win over Manchester Phoenix in Blackpool on Saturday.

But hopes of following it up in the return match at The Hive on Sunday ended in disaster.

They crashed 5-0 after a disastrous opening period that saw them concede three goals and have influential player-coach Lukas Smital suspended for the rest of the game.

In addition to a lack of discipline, Bees lost their sense of direction, as they created a host of good scoring opportunities in front of their bewildered supporters, only to squander them all.

Perhaps there was an air of complacency in the camp, but whatever the reasons were, Bracknell certainly had an off night, failing to score for the first time this season.

On the other hand, Phoenix, who like their rivals had lost their four previous games, must have learned from their mistakes and played far better than they had 24 hours earlier.

Their defence certainly gave net-minder Stephen Fone plenty of protection as they repelled the early Bracknell raids.

But Bees could not even take advantage of the rebounds or even when they had a clear sight of the net.

They were given a sharp lesson in clinical finishing with import Robin Kovar opening the scoring three seconds short of 11 minutes, followed by Edgars Bebris on 12:07 and Kovar again on 14:24.

By this time, Bees had lost Lukas Smital for the rest of the night.

He had already been sent to the sin-bin for a tripping offence on 11:27, when he was penalised again on 13:51, this time for cross-checking.

But the coach clearly wasn’t happy, made his opinions known to the referee and was promptly suspended for 10 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour and then for the rest of the match.

It meant that Bees’ chances of getting back in the game became even more remote.

Yet, they still looked better equipped than their visitors, having all 18 players on duty, five more than their rivals.

But in terms of defending and attacking, Phoenix still showed the greater strength, increasing in confidence, while Bees started to show signs of tiredness and frustration.

Scott Spearing made visits to the sin-bin in each of the three periods, while Krystof Kafan received a brace of two-minute suspensions.

On one occasion, they had only three outfield players on the ice, while Phoenix were also short of one player.

Roman Malinik, on 38:44, and Jakub Langhammer (58:44) completed the scoring.

Manchester were clearly reliant on their imports and twice in quick succession in the final 15 minutes they were penalised for having one too many on the ice.

It was the first time Bracknell had failed to score in front of their home supporters since losing 4-0 to Peterborough last February.

Bees, who had won 6-2 away to Manchester in their final game of last season, had their imports to thank for their big win on Saturday with Lithuanian ace Basic netting a hat-trick with goals on 31:23, 38:55 and 46:14.

Rio Grinell-Parke had opened the scoring for the visitors on 10:02 with Josh Tetlow doubling their lead exactly a minute later.

Grinell-Parke set up the sixth goal for Spearing on 51:15 before Kafan put Bees rounded off a good night’s work for the team on 58:15.

Bees net-minder Matt Smital was beaten by Marek Indra in the sixth minute of the second period and again by Robin Kovar on 51:45.

Teenager Smital had a good game and retained his place for the return on Sunday, when he was voted Bees’ player of the match despite conceding five goals.

With a slightly inferior goal difference to Manchester, Bracknell return to the foot of the table.

They visit sixth-placed Swindon Wildcats this Saturday (5.45pm face-off) before entertaining unbeaten leaders Milton Keynes Lightning at The Hive on Sunday (6pm).