The Bees were beaten 6-1 by Manchester Phoenix on Saturday before falling short in an end-to-end thriller with Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday as the visitors ran out 8-6 winners.

Lukas Smital’s side would’ve been hoping to bow out in style on Sunday but it wasn’t to be as Steeldogs kept them at arms length throughout.

Things got off to a poor start for the Bees as a lacklustre first period saw them 3-0 down by the end of it.

Andy Hirst netted twice within the opening six minutes and Craig Elliot fired home midway through the stanza to put Sheffield in cruise control.

Bees pulled one back on 27.34 when Smital assisted Jan Bendik for a goal, but the visitors came roaring back to score another two through Lubomir Korhon and Callum Pattinson.

Bendik fired home seconds before the buzzer to reduce arrears and Rio Grinell-Parke pulled another goal back for the hosts just 36 seconds into the third period.

With the Bees now trailing by two, the Hive was visibly buzzing at the thought of an unlikely comeback to end the season on a high.

But it wasn’t to be as Hirst completed his hat-trick and Greg Wood fired past Alex Mettam to restore Steeldogs’ four goal lead.

Smital’s side were determined to give everything and quickfire goals from Bendik - his hat-trick - and Pavel Strycek brought the game back to a two goal swing, with five minutes remaining.

It was a pulsating final period and the Bracknell fans were making a lot of noise as their team threatened to stage an outragerous comeback.

In the end it was academic as Steeldogs scored again to silence the crowd but it was Bees that netted last, with Ziggy Beesley netting to make the final score 8-6.

Bees had battled hard and were given a huge round of applause for their efforts this season by an appreciative crowd.

The defeat came just 24 hours after a 6-1 loss at Manchester Phoenix.

The Bees were outplayed by their superior hosts and found themselves 3-0 down after Robin Kovar, Frantisek Bakrlik and Tony Hand had netted, before Matt Foord pulled a goal back on 36.19.

Unfortunately, Johan Burlin restored the three goal lead with a fine solo effort on 39.06.

Shaun Thompson and Burlin fired home in the final period to seal the win for Phoenix to ensure Smital’s side would head back down south with no points to show for their efforts.