Flames ran out 3-1 winners against Lukas Smital’s side, before Manchester turned on the style to run out 7-0 victors.

The double-header meant it was three games in four days for Bees, who picked up a 7-2 victory against Whitelink Raiders in the British Challenge Cup on Thursday evening.

It was the start of what would hopefully be a massive four days in Bees’ season but the promise failed to materialise as Smital’s side faced the same problems as usual in the league.

The two losses means it is now just five wins in 19 league outings for Bracknell, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table. With Scott Spearing and Smital both missing due to inury as well as Harvey Stead and Vanya Antonov away on Great Britain Under 20’s duty the Bees looked light on numbers for the trip to Manchester on Sunday.

And so it proved as the hosts put on a show to sweep Bracknell aside in a dominating performance. The first period saw Phoenix go 2-0 ahead as the hosts twice took advantage on the powerplay to punish Bracknell.

James Archer and Frantisek Bakrlik both netted to ensure two out of three powerplays yielded a goal for the hosts.

Smital’s side had two powerplays of their own at the start of the second stanza but they couldn’t take advantage and were made to pay soon after.

A long-range effort from Bakrlik was gloved by Alex Mettam but he failed to properly grip the puck and it agonisingly slipped into the net for a third goal.

Chances were exchanged at either end before Robin Kovar struck four minutes before the end of the period to make it 4-0.

Kovar was in the thick of the action and was assessed for a hooking minor just seconds into the final period.

But the visitors couldn’t take advantage of the powerplay and Kovar returned to make it 5-0 just moments later.

Two quick-fire goals within 30 seconds of each other added a gloss to the scoreline with eight minutes remaining.

Luke Boothroyd netted first, before Tony Hand extended the lead to seven goals to condemn Bees to a shattering defeat.

Bracknell had performed better the previous night against local rivals Guildford Flames, though it ended up counting for very little as they fell to a slender defeat.

The action started fairly evenly with the teams looking to edge ahead but the first period became a stalemate with the defences and netminders on top repelling everything thrown at them.

More of the same followed in the second stanza until the opening goal of the evening saw the Bees edge ahead when James Galazzi found a way past Gregg Rockman in the Flames net with the Bees on a powerplay. But the lead was shortlived for the visitors as two goals in two minutes towards the end of the second period saw the Flames take the lead.

Vladimir Kutny equalised after firing beyond Mettam before Danny Meyers scored a second on a Flames powerplay to put the hosts ahead at the end of the second period.

Tension was high and on 42:30 Jan Bendik and Jez Lundin decided to drop the gloves to settle a disagreement, both receiving two plus two minors for roughing.

The Flames were pressing for what would be a winning goal but the Bees were standing firm to all the hosts could throw at them with Mettam pulling off some excellent stops to keep his side in the game.

It was tight and tense as Bees pressed for an equaliser and with time running out they opted to remove Mettam in favour of the extra skater to apply more pressure to the Flames. But the gamble didn’t work as Roman Tvrdon broke Bees hearts with an empty net goal to seal victory and ensure the points would be staying with Guildford.

There was some good news for Smital’s side though as they ran out comfortable 7-2 winners at home to Whitelink Raiders.

Matt Foord starred as he netted a first period hat-trick to put Bees 3-1 ahead at the end of the opening period, with Jaroslav Cesky replying for the visitors.

A dominant first period was matched in the second by Bees as they won the period 4-1 to establish a commanding 7-2 lead.

Bees had a five-on-three powerplay at the start of the second period and it didn’t take long for them to take advantage as Lewis Turner fired home from distance with a delightful effort.

A minute later and Galazzi made it 5-1 with the game still not even at the halfway point.

Cesky reduced the arrears temporarily but it didn’t last long as the rampant Bees scored again through a deft Radek Hubacek effort.

The visitors changed netminders in the 35th minute but Shannon Long’s first task was to pick the puck out of his net after Matt Towalski went wide of him and slid the puck home with the first effort of the game against the replacement.

With the score 7-2 at the end of the second period, Bees noticeably took their foot of the gas in the third and both netminders comfortably saved any efforts on their goal to ensure it finished that way.

Smital’s side were good value for their victory and it could’ve been more if they had wanted further goals.

Bees have a weekend off this week ahead of a busy Christmas period.