He knew that sleek German side Bietigheim, with their expensive roster and advanced pre-season conditioning, would be as big a challenge as they will face when the serious business of the league starts.

Said Matsos: "The whole point of the weekend was to get together as a team, to get crashing and banging and get physically set for two weeks time.

"The Germans have been together for seven weeks and they were a reflection of where we will be in time. But it was a good weekend for the guys and I really like what we have here this year. We are going to be quick and gritty - a hard-hat and work-boots team. They are going to work hard every night.

"We aren't going to win every game but that won't be for lack of effort."

Steelers' quicksilver starters forced an early lead last night as Randy Dagenais' shot bounced off the back boards for Joey Talbot to bury.

In the whirlwind minute of action that followed, Jason Hewitt and Jonathan Phillips could have increased the advantage, yet it was the visitors who struck, Alexander Serikow levelling.

Bietigheim, with their 22 skaters compared to Steelers' 14, rolled line after line, pressing Steelers back into their own zone.

Yet Robert Dowd should have buried a rare chance at 16:18 - one which would have given Steelers a lead few could have imagined was on the cards.

Nevertheless, they had gamely clung on to 1-1 at the first interval.

And it was only rank bad luck which saw them go behind in the second session. They had killed the first segment of a 5-on-3 penalty only to concede to Andrei Kaufmann with one second left of the second.

Sheffield, while working hard every shift, didn't have the firepower to get back, Doug Sheppard unable to convert from close range.

Nathan Gillies could have made a name for himself in his debut weekend, but lost control of the puck on the game's only breakaway at 40:17.

Five minutes later the Germans took control, Kaspar Degn firing over a grounded Jody Lehman.

Steelers will clearly have passion this year; normally mild-mannered Doug Shep-pard was ejected for abusing an official after a Talbot goal was disallowed.

Ryan Finnerty and Andrew Sharp went for an early shower too.

n On Saturday, Steelers' pre-season opened up with a promising 2-1 lead, courtesy of strikes from Jeff Legue and Talbot. But the Germans wore Sheffield down and cashed in on some tired penalty lapses.

One of the most memorable moments was a huge hit by Hewitt, which put unfortunate 20-year-old Pascal Schoofs temporarily out of action.



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