Weekend Teaser: The last weekend of the season.

  

 What does weekend twenty eight have in store for the Bees?

Season weekend twenty seven review 

Last weekend the Bees had a double header with the Raiders who were keen to clinch their playoff place. With Bees now playing for pride and to avoid the wooden spoon we saw two teams who really didn't want to lose.
Saturday saw the Bees make the journey to Romford and in a game where the lead changed several times and that required overtime to separate the teams, the Raiders came away with the second point. Bees goals came from Dominik Gabaj (2), Will Stead and Hallam Wilson and in goal was Dean Skinns who actually recorded a better save percentage than Owen Rider in the Raiders goal. Final score 5-4 to the Raiders.
Sunday was a special day in Slough as the Bees went "retro" to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the club winning the Superleague title in the 1999/2000 season. Like the previous evening the lead was to change hands several times as the Bees battled hard to get the win. Hallam Wilson was to continue his good form by scoring Bees first goal of the night and despite the Raiders drawing level Marcel Balaz gave the Bees the lead again. Two goals from the Raiders saw them take the lead, the second of these scored at 46.26. Just 14 seconds later Dominik Gabaj scored to bring the teams level and a second goal of the night for both Marcel and Dom gave the Bees a 5-3 win banking a three point weekend for the team. 

My opinion - We saw two teams who really didn't want to lose to each other and whilst the Raiders could have took their foot off the pedal on Sunday they still wanted the win so badly. The Raider goalie Owen Rider played really well and it seems, in Ethan James' absence, they are in safe hands. The Bees were gutted to lose in overtime on Saturday and that feeling fuelled them to the win on Sunday, this team were not going down without a fight. 

Player of the Weekend Result

Congratulations to Hallam Wilson who is the player of the weekend, he wins thanks to your votes on Twitter with 33% of the vote. His two goals against the Raiders last weekend were both excellent and we got to see the strength of someone who, without a doubt, would have made a bigger impact throughout the season if injury had not sidelined him. 

Next: The Steeldogs and Phantoms to close out the season 

The Steeldogs visit Slough on Saturday for the Bees last home game this season. The Steeldogs sit comfortably in 6th place in the league and have booked a place in the playoffs being grouped with the MK Lightning, the Swindon Wildcats and the third team still to be decided. Their stand out player all season has been Walker Sommer who is just one point away from 100 points this season. Another player who has made a huge contribution to their good season is Sam Tremblay but the Steeldogs have lost him to the Steelers as their league and playoff fight took precedence. The Steeldogs have only won one of their last eight games and will be looking to gain some momentum with a good final weekend before the playoffs commence. 

Sunday night  the Bees travel to Peterborough. The Phantoms, who are 5th in the league standings, have had mixed form lately but their 6-1 win in Milton Keynes on March 8th shows how much this team can turn it on when desired. The Bees have only picked up one point away at Peterborough all season and the Phantoms will want to go into the playoffs on a win so this will be a tough fixture. Luke Ferrara, Cam Hough and Janne Laakkonen have all contributed significantly to the Phantoms this season with them all on the verge of breaking through the 90 point mark for the season. Like the Bees, the Phantoms opted for an import goalie in Hayden Lavigne who has a save percentage for the season of 90.44 ranking him just below Max Wright in the goalie stats. 

Whatever happens I hope the Bees squad enjoy their last weekend of the season before they take a well-deserved break.


All that is left to say is safe travels to the Steeldogs players and the travelling fans heading to Slough on Saturday and to the Bees players and travelling fans heading to Peterborough on Sunday.

Come on you Bees!

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