Bracknell Bees were unable to book their spot in the NIHL South Cup final after a 9-5 aggregate defeat against Peterborough Phantoms.
Trailing 6-3 from the first leg, the task was made even tougher for Doug Sheppard’s men after falling 1-0 behind to Martins Susters’ goal in the first period at The Hive on Wednesday evening.
However, the hosts did rally to lead 2-1 going into the third thanks to goals from Tyler VanKleef and Zack Milton to reduce the overall deficit to just two.
But Phantoms responded again to net twice in the third, winning 3-2 on the night with Corey McEwen and James White on target to clinch the 9-5 aggregate victory to set up a clash with Basingstoke Bison in the final.
“We played our hearts out,” said head coach Sheppard.
“I’m disappointed with the result but I couldn’t be happier with the way we competed for the full 60 minutes.
“On another night with a few different bounces, who knows?
“The lesson we’ve learned is we can’t leave ourselves that much to do in a future aggregate series.”
Bees go to MK Thunder in the league on Sunday (6.45pm).
