Tom Watkins demands consistency from Telford Tigers after play-off blow
Telford Tigers head coach Tom Watkins has urged his side “to have far more consistency” after they slipped to a 6-4 defeat to Romford Raiders on Sunday.
The defeat - Telford's second of the weekend - leaves them five points adrift of the NIHL National League play-off spots, having played a game more than eighth-placed Solway Sharks.
And Watkins outlined his frustration, calling for his players to maintain a high level of performance throughout the match.
Watkins said: “We need to have far more consistency in our game from period to period and game to game.
"We got a fast start with a quick goal but after that we were sloppy, gave up a number of odd man rushes and turned the puck over needlessly.
“The first two periods were a struggle, but we kept it to a one goal game and got a bad start to the third period, but after that we found a way back and played our best hockey but got caught on our second offensive zone penalty of the night which made it difficult to take advantage of pulling the goalie.”
Tigers did make the best possible start after David Thomson netted inside 17 seconds.
However, the lead lasted only three minutes as Raiders levelled up through Tjay Anderson, before Shaun Miller put the hosts in front with a clinical effort from the right circle.
Shortly into the second period, Jake Sylvester capitalised from the slot for Raiders, but Harry Ferguson did rekindle Telford hope with a low shot.
In a thrilling contest, Sylvester netted on a breakaway, before Telford’s Scott McKenzie deflected Eric Henderson’s mid-air shot to halve the deficit again.
However, Telford switched off in the third period with Adam Harding finding his own net, before a frenetic final five minutes saw Raiders’ Andrew Shewfelt cancel out McKenzie’s second strike of the game to seal victory.
