We went, we saw, we even did a little shopping! Oh and we
played some hockey too.

The 20th March saw the B52's return to Hodonin in the Czech Republic for
our second visit. Arriving in Brno at around 16:30 it was all go as we dumped our
kit at the rink and then headed off to a fine welcome dinner at Ladi's very own Arsenal Cafe.

Having softened us up with good food and drink (plus we were clearly suffering from jet lag)
TJ Staropramen handed us a narrow defeat at the rink 15-6. Being top sporting professionals we then
attempted to take revenge at the bar, but these Czech guys are pretty good at that too (just ask Allan,
who won't be able to tell you a thing about it!).

An early start on day two saw a reception at the town hall to meet the mayor. Tony presented some gifts from the
mayor of Bracknell and a B52's shirt. After lunch we gave TJS a closer game, this time going down 13-7 (although we
think they got 8 lucky goals). We then got to see an awesome playoff match with Hodonin taking on Vsetin in a game that had everything, from a Hodonin goal disallowed in OT to them losing in a heart breaking penalty shootout. There was about 4000 fans packed into the place and it was like a football match atmosphere, a truely excellent experience.

We held our own at the bar afterwards and all except a couple made it up in the morning to head off to the spa for some R&R. Game 3 saw little change in our fortunes with TJS still getting loads of lucky goals and winning 15-6, with the crowing glory being the caterpillar involving both teams (see photos!). Sunday night we beat the Czech guys at bowling (which was why we were there, they thought it was all about the hockey) and Downsey proved adept at speed bowling, hitting 42kph!

There was still time for a little shopping on Monday before heading home for a well earned rest!!!