BRACKNELL Bees are reaping the rewards for the hard work the club put in during the summer, according to player-coach Scott Spearing, writes Dave Wright.

They have made their best start to the season for several years, stringing together five wins in a row.

Prior to last weekend, they had achieved three straight victories for the first time since January 2015 and they extended their sequence by slamming Streatham 6-1 at home on Saturday before crushing Cardiff 5-1 in Wales on Sunday.

“I’m very happy with how things are going,” revealed Spearing.

“It’s been a great job from all the players.The team is playing really solidly with everyone buying into what we are trying to create here.

“We are in a new league and I don’t want to take anything away from the players, but it’s a completely different situation we’re into what we have been in the past.”

Spearing, who played a major role in rebuilding and strengthening the Bees squad, added: “The atmosphere in the changing room is great and everyone feels very positive about our chances of being up near the top of the table.

“We have a lot of new guys and it’s a completely different chemistry.

“I’m really happy right through from the first to the third line at the moment.”

Two of the best decisions the Bees made were to bring back Frankie Bakrlik and Jan Bendik to The Hive.

“They are key players, we are lucky to have two great imports,” said Spearing.

“Frankie and Jan are scoring important goals for us, and that is what we got them in for. We can rely on them to put the puck into the net.

“Frankie has got a hell of a shot – it’s like a cannon. He’s a big guy, strong and so puts a lot of weight behind the puck.

“But I am really happy with all the players, everyone is putting in a shift and doing their part to bring us the wins.”

There are now two sets of brothers in the squad – Harvey and Will Stead and Ben and Josh Ealey-Newman, the latter pair hailing from Warfield.

Spearing continued: “Will, Ben and Josh are among the guys who Lukas (Smital) had been bringing on over the last few years and I’ve been lucky enough to capitalise on them and use them when I can.

“They are home-grown talent which Rob (coach Lamey) and I believe in, and hopefully we can develop players like Will, Josh and Ben.

“We’ve brought in a lot of new players and they have earned their spot because of how good they are. We are in a lucky position.”

Bees will be looking to stretch their winning sequence to six when they host local rivals Basingstoke Bison on Sunday (6pm face-off).

They lost 2-1 to Bison before going on their successful run, which included a 5-2 win in the return fixture.

“I felt we were unlucky to lose to them, the puck just didn’t bounce in our favour on the night,” commented Spearing.

“So I am looking forward to the challenge again and I think we will do another solid job.

“We’ve shown we can compete with the best in this league and I am looking for nothing less than two points again.”

Spearing said the Bees have managed to attract a number of new sponsors this year and he is now hoping attendances will continue to grow as well.

“We know that people like supporting a winning team and the noise a big crowd can create can really make a difference to the players.”