THOSE fans who helped pay for the coach that took Bracknell Bees players up to Deeside on Sunday will see it as money well spent – except less, of course, you were the Manchester Phoenix supporters.

Bees – probably surprising most of their loyal followers – won 6-2 in their final game of the season.

The cash-strapped club were forced to ask for financial assistance as there had been a shortfall in their expected income in recent weeks due to a dip in gate receipts and what they did have in the bank was needed to pay the players.

Nearly £1,300 was wanted to meet their transport costs and supporters coughed up the cash, with Manchester fans kindly contributing around £50.

“Without fans we cannot function,” said Bees player-coach Lukas Smital.

“It shows how much heart they have. It just wasn’t our own fans, but also Manchester fans as well, which was great. We have to say a big thank you to them.”

Those supporters who drove up to Deeside to cheer their side on were rewarded with an outstanding performance against a side who finished eighth in the English Premier League with 48 points, twice as many as the Bees’ final tally which left them bottom of the table.

It was a rare three-point weekend, as on Saturday Bracknell had taken Telford Tigers to overtime before being edged out 6-5.

Their battling performance earned a standing ovation from the fans as the players left The Hive rink for the last time this season.

“It was a great turn out tonight; we are privileged to play for a club like this,” Smital told the News.

Hopes of ending their home fixtures with a victory looked promising when they took a two-goal lead.

Smital opened their account on 11mins 13secs and helped to set up the second for Vanya Antonov close to the 25th-minute mark.

Jason Silverthorn pulled a goal back for Telford before James Galazzi made it 3-1 midway through the second period, only for Peter Szabo to reply for the visitors.

Smital, who was sent to the sin-bin on three separate occasions during the game, restored his side’s two-goal advantage at 35:20, but the goals continued to come with Macaulay Heywood notching a third for the visitors.

Antonov missed a penalty for Bees before Dale White bundled the puck home to make it 4-4 in the 51st minute.

Galazzi restored Bracknell’s lead on 56:32, but they were not ahead for long as 65 seconds later Andrei Makrov notched a fifth for the Tigers.

And it was the Estonian import who also grabbed the winner after just 63 seconds of overtime.

“We played really well to score five goals,” said Smital. “To take it to overtime against a team like that shows great character. It was a bit of a lottery at the end, but there was a breakdown and they scored their sixth.”

To lose like that in their final home game was a big disappointment for the Bees, but they bounced back in devastating fashion on Sunday.

Antonov, a youngster with tremendous talent, gave his side the lead at 3:09 and Galazzi scrambled in a second on 7:33.

But the advantage was wiped out by goals 11 seconds from the end of the opening period and 49 seconds into the next, with Robin Kovar and Ben Wood the men on target for the host club.

Net-minder Alex Mettam was not to be beaten again, however.

Bees took control of the second period, adding four more goals through Carl Thompson (22:19), skipper Matt Foord (30:47, on power play) and Smital (32:37) before Antonov (39:49) scored his second to complete the scoring.

Bracknell were happy to soak up the pressure in the final period even when Carl Graham and Jan Bendik were both dispatched to the sin-bin at separate times.

The Bees fans returned home wondering why the team had not produced this sort of form in some of their previous games.