AS A COACH, you can live with your team losing if you’ve left everything out on the ice.

However, in the last three games our effort has been unacceptable. This needs to change.

I hope this week the players think about how we felt leaving the ice at Bracknell on Sunday, having held a lead and then failed to convert a five-minute powerplay to put the game beyond our opponents’ reach.

I know a lot of fans were asking how the team at the top of the league is turned over by the team at the bottom. Sport is never a question of looking at the stats and drawing simple conclusions.

This was actually the third game in a row where we have underperformed. Guildford had made an uncertain start to their season. In our first league fixture they outworked us, took us into overtime and won on penalties.

On Saturday, we outshot Sheffield 18-2 in the first period and took a commanding lead.

Of course we were pleased to see Muzzy Wales scoring his first goal this season and Joe Rand’s hat-trick should have given us a comfortable cushion. But, as a team, we allowed Sheffield back into the game. That should not have happened.

And then there was the same pattern in Bracknell, except that this time we came away with nothing.

We need to remind ourselves how we achieved success last season and how we began this season with four good wins.

The game against Manchester will be played in front of a packed crowd on Saturday. There are just as many points to play for when we make the long trip up to Sheffield.

Whatever position you are in the league, you usually get the points you deserve. We need to deserve a successful weekend.

See you Saturday,

Doug