Vanya Antonov spoke of Bracknell Bees’ relief after they recorded a first win of the new season on Sunday.
The Russian-born British forward, 17, produced a man-of-the-match performance as Bees squeezed home 5-4 against Chelmsford Chieftains of the lower level English Ice Hockey League at the Hive.
Pavel Strycek, Scott Spearing, Ryan Watt and Matt Foord all scored as Bracknell led four times – only for the Chieftains to hit back on each occasion during a thrilling English Challenge Cup clash.
However, defenceman Lewis Turner popped up to score the winner on the powerplay with less than two minutes remaining to end Bees’ run of four consecutive defeats.
Antonov said: “I think it is great that we have got the monkey off our back and got our first win. You could see people lighting up at that point and enjoying themselves.
“When we are losing the atmosphere isn’t the same.
“When we stuck to our game plan the goals came and when we stopped playing it went wishy-washy, but overall we pulled through it and got a big win.
“It is a huge relief. After the amount of games we lost it is a good feeling to win.”
Given the contrasting form of the two sides, with Bees bottom of the English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) and Chieftains unbeaten in their respective division and top of the standings, there was the potential for an upset.
And the hosts were pushed all the way by their opponents before prevailing at the last.
“We kind of knew what we were up against,” added the forward.
“We didn’t want to underestimate them and came out hard, but they (Chelmsford) are a good team and it was a good battle.
“There was a massive twist in the scoring, and we had that little lapse of concentration at the start of the second period (where the Chieftains fought back to 2-2), but we responded beautifully after that. We are just glad to get the win.”
Bees will be hoping Sunday’s victory can now kick-start their league season.
Up for the side this weekend is a re-match with a Telford Tigers side on Saturday (6pm) at the Hive who thrashed Bracknell 6-1 on the opening weekend, where revenge will most definitely be on the cards.
They then travel to the in-form Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday.
Memories of that loss in Shropshire are still raw for Antonov, who hopes the side have learned lessons from that forgettable evening on the ice.
He said: “We looked at our game in Telford last time and have analysed what our mistakes were.
“We are wanting to improve and hopefully get a better result this time around.
“Sheffield are quite a physical team, but if we stick to our game plane we’ll be fine.”
