AFTER the game against Manchester, we talked about the aspects of our game which needed improvement.

We were travelling to Telford the following day to meet last year’s cup and league winners and we knew we could play much better than we had on Saturday, even though a 6-2 win sounded impressive.

This might sound strange to fans who had left the rink on Saturday buzzing with excitement. They had seen some great goals. They had seen their team defend against a five-on-three powerplay. They had seen how well they had adjusted to losing their captain after the first period and they had cheered the team on the whole evening.

Even though many of the players have full-time day jobs, they’re on the ice three nights a week for training and playing two games at the weekend, one of which usually involves a lot of travelling.

Fans know how committed they are to the sport and appreciate the honest effort they put into every game.

It has always been important in Basingstoke to include young local talent in the team. If a young player pulls on a Bison shirt, he knows he will gain valuable experience and Ryan Sutton stepped up in Telford.

Saturday was our worst performance of the season, but we bounced back and Sunday was our best. It’s consistency that will make us successful over the course of the season.

One of my biggest decisions during the off season was to sign an import goaltender. Tomas Haidlovsky conceded only one goal, facing 49 shots in a much-deserved man-of-the-match performance.

Let’s hope he’s not that busy this weekend.