IT was the difference between night and day, writes Dave Wright.

That was skipper Joe Baird's simple summing up of contrasting performances from Bracknell Bees last weekend.

They were absolutely brilliant on Saturday, blasting league leaders Peterborough Phantoms, one of their bogey sides in the past, by a remarkable 8-2 margin.

However, it was a totally different story 24 hours later when Bees were crushed 6-2 at home by fellow top-four side Basingstoke Bison.

Speaking to the News on Sunday, ex-Bison player Baird said: "Last night we played very well as a team.

"We kept it very simple. We pushed the puck forwards, had a lot of shots and did all the little things that made us successful on the night.

"As far as we were concerned, it was a great game, but against Bison was completely the opposite. We went backwards a long way.

"The difference was pretty much night and day.

"I think we were trying too hard. We didn't have close support, we weren't winning battles and we weren't clearing in front of the net.

"There were a lot of things wrong to be completely honest."

While Baird had followed head coach Doug Sheppard from Basingstoke to Bracknell in the close season, several players went in the opposite direction and two of them played a starring role on their return to The Hive.

George Norcliffe scored two of the goals and netminder Alex Mettam had an outstanding game between the Bison posts, restricting his former side to just two goals from 34 shots.

Baird added: "We will regroup in practice and get back to playing direct and simple hockey and do completely the opposite to what we have done."

During the game, Bracknell's Ryan Watt, a former Bison player, was involved in a scrap with ex-Bee Danny Ingoldsby and further indiscretions led to him being thrown out of the match after 44 minutes.