YOUNG Matt Smital earned the man-of-the-match award as Bracknell Bees crashed 5-0 to Manchester Phoenix at The Hive on Sunday, writes Dave Wright.

The defeat – which came just 24 hours after Bees had beaten the same opponents 7-2 away – would have been a lot heavier but for a string of excellent saves from the 17-year-old net-minder as the visitors fired in 30 shots during the game.

Matt, along with his fellow defenders, may have been a little less busy had not his father, Lukas, been chucked out of the game, for making an abusive comment to the match officials.

“I wasn’t sure what he said but it probably wasn’t very good,” commented 6ft 4in Matt.

Player-coach Lukas voiced his opinion to the referee after receiving an initial two-minute penalty for cross-checking.

That came less than four minutes after he had been penalised for tripping.

All this came in the in the second half of the opening period, which also saw Bees concede three goals in a mere four minutes of match action.

Manchester added a goal in each of the second and third periods to gain swift revenge for their mauling on Saturday.

“They played a lot tougher than last night,” said Smital junior after Sunday’s defeat.

“They took their chances, executed them very well; everything went right for them.

“We had a lot of opportunities, but we could not take them.

“I thought we still played well, but were just unlucky.”

For both sides, it was their first English Premier Ice Hockey League win of the season, but they continue to occupy the bottom two places in the table.