Cesky (wearing 39) twice stunned Phantoms on the breakaway

Bracknell Bees star Jaroslav Cesky scored four goals in the first period to set up a victory over treble-winners Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday.

The Czech import forward scored twice as the Bees went 2-1 up in the opening exchanges, then scored two short-handed goals to stun Peterborough.

Phantoms' James Spurr got two goals as Peterborough fought back to trail 5-4 after two periods.

But Michal Pinc scored a last-minute empty-net goal to seal victory.

Peterborough had withdrawn goaltender Stephen Wall to give themselves an extra attacker as they chased the equalising goal, but coach Doug Irwin's strategy backfired as Pinc found the unguarded Phantoms net from his own blue line.

Bracknell defended doggedly throughout the third period, having blazed into a three-goal lead with a superb attacking performance in the first.

Cesky, one of the league's leading points scorers, single-handedly dismantled a decidedly fragile Phantoms defence.

Having scored from close range inside 45 seconds only to see Spurr's slapshot level the game, the 31-year-old rifled home a second then twice broke away during Phantoms power plays to score short-handed.

Peterborough struggled to lift their game, but a Callum Fowler deflection past Carl Ambler early in the second period, and Spurr's second goal moments later, showed them a way back into the match.

Cesky, however, had not finished. His precision pass gifted Ryan Watt open ice and an easy finish in the 30th minute to reopen a two-goal advantage.

Fowler once again narrowed the gap towards the end of the second period, so Bracknell switched to defensive mode for the third, shunning opportunities to break in a bid to preserve their lead.

The tactic proved effective and Phantoms withdrew Wall with less than a minute remaining in a final throw of the dice, but Cesky set up Pinc to kill off the game.

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