The night got off to the worst possible start for the Bees as Basingstoke took a second-minute lead at The Hive through player-coach Doug Sheppard in just the second minute.

He benefitted from fine play by Kurt Reynolds and Joe Greener to put his side in front, and things got worse for Lukas Smital’s side when Michael Wales fired home to double the visitors’ advantage.

However Bracknell showed tremendous heart throughout the contest and clawed a goal back early in the second period, when Vanya Antonov netted from an assist by Radek Hubacek in the 24th minute.

Yet their joy was shortlived as the Bison extended their lead just three minutes later, with Wales setting up Sheppard to notch his second of the night and put the visitors 3-1 to the good.

Shortly after, a flashpoint ignited as Bees’ forward Chris Wiggins was given a match penalty after fighting with Matt Selby of the Bison.

However the Basingstoke man was also given a 10-minute penalty for an outburst towards the officials, and player-coach Smital reduced the arrears for the home side when he scored a sparkling individual goal in the 37th minute.

With the Bison’s discipline waivering, both Reynolds and Greener were sent to the box, giving Bracknell a 5-on-3 powerplay.

And the hosts made the most of their numerical advantage, equalising through Jan Bendik following good work from Smital and Ryan Watt.

A slight delay followed when part of the plexi-glass fell out, and an increasingly ill-tempered game went goalless for the majority of the third period.

Basingstoke were given a glorious chance to snatch the win when Bees forward Scott Spearing was penalised with less than 90 seconds remaining.

However Bracknell pulled off a stunning heist by not only blocking out the powerplay, but going up the other end of the rink and scoring a winner with just 10 seconds remaining through their inspirational leader Smital.

The defeat was the Bison’s first in regular time of the campaign, and although the Bees remain bottom of the table following a difficult start to the season, they will be buoyed by the fact they have won two consecutive games at home.

And they will have the chance to start climbing the league when they welcome fellow strugglers Swindon Wildcats - who sit second bottom - to The Hive on Sunday night (6pm).

The win was a welcome relief for Bees after they suffered a heavy defeat at Milton Keynes Lighnting on Saturday night.

The hosts had the better of the play in the first period but Bees netminder Alex Mettam made fine saves from Grant McPherson, Leigh Jamieson, Milan Kostourek and Petr Horava.

Meanwhile the Bees failed to create many chances bar one effort from Radek Hubacek.

And they fell behind early in the second period when - with Bees’ defender Harvey Stead penalised for hooking - the Lightning scored thanks to a blue line blast from Adam Carr which was turned into the net by Stan Lascek in the 25th minute.

Bracknell had the ideal opportunity to gain a foothold in the game when both Lascek and Jamieson were in the penalty box for interference and boarding respectively, but they were unable to fashion any great chances.

And they were made to pay in the final period, as two quick goals from Horava put the game beyond the visitors reach, before Kostourek rubbed salt into their wounds by making it 4-0 late on.

Mettam was named man-of-the-match for the Bees.