Berkshire Bees 1-6 Telford Tigers: Away day rout helps Tigers climb off the bottom
Telford Tigers head coach Tom Watkins hailed his side's "discipline" after they romped to a 6-1 victory on the road at Berkshire Bees.
That win in Slough saw Tigers leapfrog Berkshire Bees and climb off the foot of the table in the NIHL National Division.
Tigers had lost three on the bounce away from home prior to the weekend and Watkins was pleased to pick up points on the road after a difficult start to the season.
“That was a good performance and win on the road. I thought we were disciplined, managed the puck well, stuck to assignments and our process giving us a really solid platform defensively," head coach Watkins said after the game.
"We did an excellent job on the penalty kill once again plus a great job blocking shots tonight.
"We also got to the blue paint well and with the exception of Hendo’s (Henderson’s) second goal which was scored from further out we got rewarded for going to the net front.”
Telford killed off two early penalties and went on to open the scoring when David Thomson was on hand to convert the rebound from Vladimir Luka's parried shot.
They took just 19 seconds to double their advantage when Fin Howells picked out Tom Byrne in space at the top of the left circle. Byrne then tricked his way past a defender and beat Bees net minder Max Wright with a low shot.
Tigers added a third just two minutes into the second period when Harry Ferguson saw his shot saved by Wright before James Smith pounced to tuck home the follow-up into an empty net.
Watkins' charges began to run riot when they extended their lead to four shortly after. Thomson forced another save from Wright with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle but the puck looped up in the air and landed behind the Bees' net minder for Eric Henderson to tap in on the goal line.
Ferguson added a fifth six minutes into the third period when Thomson's shot deflected off Wright and into his path to score.
Bees netted a consolation four minutes before the end of the game when Dominik Gabaj scored from close-range to break Brad Day's shut-out bid.
But Telford completed the round late on when Henderson scored his second of the night with a shot from the slot which nestled into the top right-hand corner.
