In a penalty-riddled match the youth-filled Mustangs team were simply too good for a somewhat lacklustre Bears outfit.

Sydney got off to a flyer with debutant Lucien Hackett scoring his first AIHL goal late in the first period with some good offensive awareness in front of goal.

But the Bears lead was short-lived with the Mustangs answering straight back at the start of the second period through forward Andrew Belic.

The rest of the second period saw more penalties than goals, with players from both teams being forced to sit out parts of the game due to ill-discipline.

The Mustangs went into the third period with confidence after two easy goals late in the second, and continued their roll adding two more goals from Belic and forward Sean Jones.

Sydney managed to peg back the Mustangs’ four-goal lead through captain Michael Schlamp late in the third, but it was too little too late for the Bears.

Matt Anderson put the icing on the cake for the Mustangs with just two minutes remaining, barging through the Bears defence and slotting the puck home.

On a positive note for Sydney, Canadian import Kurtis Dulle put up a solid performance in his first game in the AIHL, showing some great attacking flair throughout.

The Habitat Furniture 3 Stars of the Game went to goal-scorer Hackett, captain Vlad Rubes for his hand in both of the Bears’ goals, and Bears defender Spencer Austin for his big hits and defensive hustle.

The Bears will host the Newcastle North Stars next at Penrith Ice Palace on 8th May at 5pm.