AFTER playing our best hockey of the season last week against Milton Keynes, fans and players hoped for a similar performance last Saturday against Guildford.

This counted towards both the English Premier League Cup and the league.

There were four teams competing for fourth place in the cup, ourselves, Guildford, Swindon and Peterborough.

One of us will go forward into a knockout competition for the first piece of silverware this season.

Guildford Flames won this competition last season. This season, they had won the first of our two fixtures on their own ice.

If two teams tie on points, the winner is decided by the series results, so Saturday’s game was important for both teams.

We wanted to continue our run of home wins. They wanted to be able to defend their cup and to show that their eighth place in the League did not reflect their real strength.

They deserved their 2-0 win in a closely contested game. On the night Guildford competed harder and wanted it more.

I think we dropped a notch in the intensity and focus we had shown the previous week. It’s a timely reminder how competitive the League is.

We have three more cup games coming up, the first of which is on Saturday when we entertain Manchester.

Then we travel up to Sheffield for a League fixture.

Our final two cup games will be against Swindon at home and Milton Keynes away. This Saturday is a must win.

Thanks to all of you who supported our event at Zizzi’s last Wednesday.

There was a great atmosphere, with the guys serving and hosting the fans. We were raising money for the Ark Cancer facility.

Thanks, too, for your support on Saturday nights. We’ll try to make sure you have something to celebrate this Saturday.