LUKAS Smital heaped praise on his players after Bracknell Bees had ended a run of 18 successive defeats by beating fellow strugglers Hull Pirates 6-3 on Sunday, writes Dave Wright.

“They fully deserved it,” said the player-coach after an exciting EPIHL encounter at The Hive.

“These guys have been working so hard these last few weeks. There have been games recently where we have come up just short, but that didn’t happen tonight, so I am very pleased for the guys.

“But, to be fair (our performance) wasn’t much different from most other games recently. This time we got the breaks.”

It was Bees’ first win since they defeated Swindon Wildcats by the odd goal in seven on November 22.

“I am happy we broke that losing streak and got a win under our belts,” added Smital. “It is good for morale and confidence and it will give everyone a boost, especially those guys who hadn’t scored for a while.”

Josh Smith and Vanya Antonov both netted twice with Carl Thompson and Milan Kostourek adding the others.

“Josh had a good game. He has struggled of late, so I am glad and I am happy for him.,” said Smital. “He played really well, but then all the youngsters stepped up a notch and that was good to see.

“It was good to give them opportunities. I told them before the game I believe in them and they paid me back, which was great.”

Brandon Miles, Josh Martin and Harvey Hind-Pitcher were all added to the Bees’ roster asked to repel the challenge of the Pirates from Hull.

Bees’ early opening goal was soon cancelled out. But they went on to win the second and third periods, 2-0 and 3-2 respectively.

“An early goal always helps and that was (part of) our game plan,” said Smital. “They got an equaliser, but we had more momentum going forward.

“We dominated the first 15 minutes but were retreating when they (Hull) scored their first goal which they executed well to make it one all.

“But we picked it back up and it was good to see us sticking to our game plan. We carried on going, we stayed patient and it came off.

“I thought as a group well played very well. We put six past them and that was enough tonight, but it could have been more. We got the puck on goal a lot of times.”

Despite recording their eighth win in 36 games, Bees remain bottom of the table, two points behind Hull.

They had lost 3-1 at Telford on Saturday, while Pirates were producing one of their best displays of the season to crush high-flying Peterborough 5-1.

But as Smital explained: “It’s always tough when you have to travel all day but we were ready for them and that was great.”

Bees will be looking for at least two more points this weekend. They travel to Peterborough on Saturday (7pm) then host Swindon Wildcats on Sunday (6pm).

Smital is hoping to return after being sidelined for a month with a broken finger: “I thought I would be ready for last Saturday,” he said. “I am taking it day by day but hopefully I can play this weekend.”