WHEN Jacob Corson-Heron limped heavily off the ice 12 minutes into the game, the Bracknell Bees probably thought that would be the last they saw of him, writes Dave Wright.

The Manchester Phoenix player suffered a painful blow on his knee when struck by the puck from close range and needed treatment before slowly making his way to the dressing room.

But ice packs on his knee eased the pain, allowing him to return to the game and Corson-Heron showed he had made a full recovery by hitting a hat-trick in a sensational three-minute spell in the final period to secure a 6-2 win for his side in this Red Hockey Challenge Cup match at The Hive on Saturday.

The scoreline, however, flattered Manchester in a match that saw neither side at full strength.

Bees even led 1-0 at the end of the first period, although that was largely down to a string of outstanding saves by Matt Smital, the teenage son of player-coach Lukas.

The hosts also had chances to score as play quickly switched from end to end and Josh Smith and Alex Barker both had efforts blocked before the latter set up James Galazzi for the opening goal on 18:09.

When the second half opened, Tom Relf shot just wide of the post, while young Smital pulled off another outstanding save to deny Stanislav Gron.

Bees were holding their own until they were left with just three outfield players when Scott Spearing was sin-binned and the team were then punished for having too many players on the ice.

And they were punished further with Michal Satek beating Smital for the first time on 30:36 to bring the scores level.

Five minutes later Bees failed to clear their lines and Gron forced the puck home from a scramble to put the visitors 2-1 up.

Bracknell, who are one place above bottom club Hull in the Red Hockey Cup standings, moved straight onto the attack at the start of the second period, only to concede another soft goal on 41:24.

The scorer was the fit-again Corson-Heron and it took him just 16 seconds to make it 4-2, with his third of the night following on 44:20.

The goals continued to flow, but this time at the other end, with Barker pulling one goal back on 45:47.

Bracknell continued to press and created a whole host of scoring opportunities but their shooting was either off target or their efforts were saved by Phil Spanswick.

In the third period, Bees had 21 shots at goal, leaving them with a final tally of 46, double the amount of shots Smital had to face.

Hardly surprising that Spanswick was named Manchester’s man of the match, with Carl Thompson edging out Matt Smital in the Bees vote.

And Spanswick also took the award on Sunday, making a remarkable 42 saves in his side’s 5-1 victory.

Mettam was back in goal for Bees, who conceded goals after two minutes, 16:24, 35:33, 42:44 and 47:55.

Bees’ consolation came from Barker on 41 minutes, but one goal was a disappointing return from 43 shots on goal compared to 33 on Mettam’s net.

Josh Tetlow was named man of the match for Bracknell on a night they were missing injured trio Carl Graham, Josh Martin and Lewis Turner.

Bottom-of-the-table Bees and Manchester, who are two places above them, clash again in the league at The Hive on Sunday (6pm) but before that Lukas Smital’s men face a trip to fourth-placed Milton Keynes this Saturday (7pm).