Peterborough Phantoms 6 Telford Tigers 1

A fire alarm brought an early finish to Telford Tigers' match in Peterborough last night - although the Phantoms had won the game 6-1 by the end of the second period anyway.

A tight opening session saw just one goal going in against Tigers, and all seemed set for a closely-fought game.

But a second period lapse of concentration saw the home side surge to a 4-0 lead before Luke Brittle clawed one back for Tigers, with a powerplay goal at 34:33, assisted by Scott McKenzie and Joe Henry.

Two more for Peterborough wrapped up the second period scoring and had the home fans hoping for a goal-filled final session.

However, neither side troubled the opposition's back-up netminder in the third period and then, reportedly, Tigers' Josh Bruce hit the fire alarm button behind the away bench with his stick, prompting an evacuation of the building and the abandonment of the game with just under four minutes remaining.

Afterwards, player-coach Tom Watkins — who had watched from the stands while under suspension and had not seen how the fire alarm had been triggered — said: "We fell asleep in the middle for about 10 minutes and their three or four quick goals left us unable to make any inroads after that.

"We did manage a nil-nil third period, and we had competed well in the first, so there are some positives for us.

"But we cannot capitulate like that. Nobody stood up when it started to go wrong, and we lacked intelligence and maturity.

"Perhaps if I had been on the bench I could have helped, so I still feel responsible that my actions left the boys shorthanded."

By CAROLINE GARBETT