Telford Tigers fend off Solway Sharks

Both teams were looking to continue their hundred per cent start to the season on Saturday at Telford Ice Rink.

Telford were first to get on the scoreboard in the sixth minute, when Joe Miller and Ricky Plant had a two-on-one breakaway. Miller made the perfect pass for Plant to slide the puck in at the far post.

Tigers’ tails were up and the second goal was not long after as Miller, Plant and Jason Silverthorn combined to leave Silverthorn with a simple tap-in.

However Telford’s dominance came to an end when Solway broke through in the 18th minute as Iain Bowie scored after Tigers failed to clear the puck from their defensive zone.

Then just 30 seconds later Bowie scored again, taking advantage of a rebound from net minder Dennis Bell to loop a shot in off Bell’s glove.

The second period began with Tigers on the power play but they were unable to make it count. But things soon turned round when on 33 minutes Jordan Stokes scored a terrific back-handed wrist shot into the top corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Solway then had a number of chances and only the brilliance of Bell kept Tigers ahead. He made one save while lying flat out on the ice, somehow managing to get his glove to the puck to prevent a certain goal from point blank range.

Bell had no chance on 39 minutes when Bowie completed his hat-trick.

Tigers thought they had restored their lead in the final seconds of the period with Miller’s shot from close range, but referee Hamilton ruled it had gone in after the buzzer had sounded, leaving the game tied at three all.

The final period was a hard fought end-to-end battle with Tigers breaking the deadlock in the 47th minute after shots by Miller and Tom Watkins were blocked, but the puck found Jonathan Weaver who made no mistake with a powerful shot from just outside the left circle.

In the 54th minute Tigers scored the best goal of the night, with some fantastic passing between Miller, Plant and Silverthorn, allowing Plant to score his second and Miller gain his fourth assist, to kill off the game.

There was still time for Bell to make another crucial pad save to maintain Tigers’ lead. Although Solway battled to the very end, pulling their net minder for the last 40 seconds, they couldn’t add to their total.

After the game Tigers’ player coach Tom Watkins said: “Overall I was pleased to get the two points, but I thought we were inconsistent. To end the first period at 2-2 allowed Solway back into the game. We need everybody focused for the full 60 minutes.”