BRACKNELL Bees captain Matt Foord praised his side for the way they bounced back from an embarrassing 11-2 defeat at Telford with a much-improved display against Swindon Wildcats 24 hours later, writes Dave Wright.

They did lose again, by a 2-1 margin in over-time, but created enough scoring opportunities to have beaten their local rivals.

“We played really well and had a hell of a lot of chances,” commented Foord.

“All the boys dug in. After last night (Saturday) it was good to see everyone bounce back and all play for each other with key players having great games.”

Foord admitted that the scoreline at Telford was embarrassing, but quickly added: “It wasn’t a true reflection of the game as for two periods we played really well.

“Then they (Telford) scored a couple of goals and we lost a bit of confidence, and they gained a bit, and it just snowballed.”

Bees, with player-coach Lukas Smital (shoulder injury) among those missing, conceded goals in the fourth and 25th minutes.

But then they shook the league leaders by hitting back through James Galazzi on 25:55 and Alex Barker on 27:03, with their man of the match, David Gaborcik, providing the final assists.

Cash-hit Tigers, who could enter administration this week, regained the lead with two goals in the space of 17 seconds.

Despite having Sam Zajac thrown out the match after starting a fight with Gaborcik, they added another five goals between 41:38 and 46:33 with two more following on 53:35 and 55:07.

Foord commented: “After their third goal we lost a bit of confidence and momentum while they gained a bit of confidence.”

But Bees put that behind them and pushed Swindon all the way before a good-sized crowd at The Hive on Sunday.

“It was fantastic to see the boys come back the way they did,” he added. “I thought it was a great team performance. Everyone dug in and really played hard – it was good to see.”

Bees edged a goalless opening 20 minutes, looking the more likely team to score, and it stayed that way for more than half of the middle period.

But then Smital received a two plus two penalty for spearing, which was then extended by 10 minutes for misconduct, and the Wildcats took advantage to score a power-play goal through Max Birabraer on 33:12.

Smital’s frustrations no doubt stemmed from a number of questionable decisions made by umpire Kevin Ward.

Bracknell were not behind for long, equalising on 35:18. In an offensive led by Scott Spearing and carried on by Harvey Stead, a scramble developed in front of the Swindon net.

Net-minder Steve Lyle made two blocks which left him lying on the ice and, before he recovered, Oleg Lascenko, gained possession and lashed a rising drive inside the near post.

Bees had the better chances to win the match, having 11 shots on goal in the final period while only six went in Alex Mettam’s direction and the Bees net-minder was in top form.

It continued that way in over-time, Bracknell having six shots compared to Swindon’s two.

But they just could not get the puck past Stevie Lyle and they were left to rue their missed chances when Neil Liddiard sent Pole Tomasz Malasinski away to slot past Mettam just seven seconds before the final buzzer.

Bees were left gutted but they can be proud of their performance. Foord, who had twice gone close to winning the game along with Smital and Lascenko, concluded: “If we play like that we’ll definitely get some wins in the coming weeks.”

Bees, who remain second from bottom in the league with nine points from 20 matches, entertain Guildford (17 from 21) at The Hive on Sunday (6pm).