Telford Tigers lose to Peterborough in Autumn Cup
The Hexagon Telford Tigers faced off against Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday night at Peterborough Arena in the Autumn Cup.
Tigers had last played Peterborough in the NIHL Final Four semi-final at Coventry last season and were looking forward to renewing their acquaintance with their former EPL rivals.
Tigers’ recent record at Peterborough made poor reading and the team were looking to avoid the slow start that had blighted their games the previous weekend.
The first period was an even one with Tigers having the best opportunity in the seventh minute when they had a five on three power play after Peterborough’s Will Weldon and Scott Robson were sent to the penalty box. Tigers couldn't get the lead and the period ended goalless.
The second period continued in the same vein with both sides cancelling each other out. Peterborough’s Jarvis Hunt went closest, his shot beat Tigers’ net minder Denis Bell but did not cross the line and was cleared by the Tigers’ defence.
The first goal of the contest belonged to Peterborough, after Jordan Stokes had taken a tripping penalty in the 48th minute.
Former Tigers’ player Cory McEwen scored on the subsequent power play to break the deadlock.
Just four minutes later, McEwen scored his seconnd goal to increase the Phantoms’ lead to two.
Just as it seemed the game was slipping away, Scott McKenzie scored from Andy McKinney’s pass to set up a frantic final five minutes.
Tigers were pushing for an equaliser but were undone by a further penalty.
McKinney was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty for boarding and Peterborough took full advantage of the extra man, scoring a second power play goal of the game through Glen Billing to seal a 3-1 victory.
After the game Coach Tom Watkins said: “It was not the result we wanted but I think we competed well tonight. It was very close for two periods with Peterborough capitalising on one broken play on the penalty kill with a fortuitous bounce.
"There were a number of guys that skated well tonight and you can see them getting their legs under them now. The most frustrating part was that we didn’t create any offence, not even when we had a five on three opportunity. We’ll be looking to bounce back tomorrow.”
