ICE hockey fans are drawn to the sport by the intensity and speed of the game.

They’ll usually leave the rink buzzing with excitement. But when they have to cope with two contrasting back to back performances in a weekend, low after one game, high after another, that’s the kind of stress we don’t need.

This is the second weekend this season that this has occurred. Fortunately, the low of a disappointing Saturday has been followed by the high of a winning performance on Sunday, this time in front of our own fans.

Obviously, we would all – fans and players – prefer consistency. That will come, with the proper mind set and growing confidence.

I thought on Sunday we showed that confidence for the first two periods. Tomas Karpov’s goal seven seconds into the game gave us the start we wanted. Watching from the bench, however, it was noticeable how fragile that confidence was at the beginning of the third period when Sheffield pulled a goal back.

We hadn’t played well in Swindon the previous evening. Even though we went in at the end of the second period two goals apiece, we crumbled after Swindon took the lead in the third.

We didn’t crumble on Sunday and relied more on teamwork to take the points.

We want to do well this coming weekend in two different Cup competitions. Local derby games always have a special edge to them. This Saturday, having lost three of our four National Cup games so far, we know how important it is to beat Bracknell.

When we travel to Sheffield on Sunday, it’s not just to continue our unbeaten run in the Autumn Cup. It’s to put in a second consistent back to back performance.

We don’t want to impose any more stress, on the fans, or ourselves.