DANNY Milton stayed cool and patient to earn Bracknell Bees a much-needed win over MK Thunder at the Hive on Sunday, writes Dave Wright.

With the scores level at 2-2 at the end of overtime, the game went to penalties and net-minder Milton saved all three he faced while seeing Callum Best score at the other end to seal a 3-2 victory.

“I’m normally pretty good at penalty shots,” beamed Milton, “We practice penalty shoot-outs in training, and I enjoy them, they’re good fun.”

He says there is no secret to his shot-stopping, adding: “I am quite relaxed, I don’t get nervous.

“I am quite patient and I think that helps me out massively. Also with my size, I use that to my advantage.

“I enjoy being involved in penalty shots especially, like on Sunday when I saved three from three.”

The 24-year-old six-footer helped Bees secure only their second win in 16 competitive matches as they bounced back following Saturday’s 6-3 defeat away to London Raiders.

“We definitely needed this win,” commented Milton. “After the London loss, Scott (coach Spearing) told us we need to improve.

“We’ve had a number of losses recently, he said we needed to buck up our ideas and put in a better performance, which I think we did.

“We had a game plan, everyone worked hard and we got there in the end.”

Milton, who coaches the junior teams at Bracknell as well as the England girls Under 14 to U17 squads, shares the Bees’ net-minder’s job with Alex Mettam.

“Scott speaks to us during the week and decides which one of us will play,” added Milton.

“There is no fierce rivalry between Alex and myself. We get on well and work well together.

“He helps me out a lot as he has more experience, gives me advice, but then I do the same with him if I think he can improve on something.

“We are a good combination and I am happy with it.”

Prior to the penalties, Milton had a less busier Sunday evening than former Bracknell player Tom Annetts in the opposing goal, with Bees getting in 34 shots, twice as many Thunder.

But it was by no means an outstanding performance, with Bracknell making numerous misplaced passes and giving the puck away on frequent occasions.

They twice came from behind with Shaun Thompson (33:13) and Callum Best (45:33) replying, both on power play, to Cameron McPherson’s (2:19) and Jamie Line’s (38:28) strikes for the MK side who played without any imports.

Despite Milton’s heroics, his side’s player-of-the-match award went to James Galazzi.

Spearing, who confined his duties to just coaching, was naturally delighted with the win, saying: “MK are a good team; people under-estimate them.”

Thompson was scoring for the second successive night, having netted on his return after a long lay-off through injury against London on Saturday.

Man-of-the-match Alex Barker and Josh Martin were also on target in the 6-3 defeat where Bees had 41 goal attempts, seven more than their hosts.

Bracknell, who remain fifth in Division One South, are home to seventh-placed Streatham on Sunday (6pm).