Tom Watkins upbeat despite close loss
Head coach Tom Watkins is still in a positive mood despite seeing Telford Tigers’ unbeaten run in the National League come to an end.
Tigers fell to a first defeat in eight as they were downed 4-3 at Milton Keynes Lightning.
They sit third in the league table and while disappointed to have fallen short on Saturday, Watkins is pleased with the overall progress of his side.
“I’m disappointed to lose and think we all feel we let this one slip, but when you have to come from behind it’s a much more difficult task,” he said. “We came up against a hot goalie who made a string of saves through the first period to keep the scores even and then pushed very hard in the third period to tie the game, and despite penalties affecting our flow, I think we would have tied the game up.
“We’ve got a few guys out at the minute and they’re a loss for sure in terms of ability but also in the fact that they allow other players to rest during the game.
“We’ve had a great start to the season, winning seven straight games in the league.
“We can be very proud of that run and can take plenty of positives from those wins and this loss.
“We’ve got a bunch of extremely talented young players who are improving and learning all the time and all are playing key minutes for us, which is a huge positive.”
Tigers headed to Milton Keynes after their participation in the Autumn Cup ended last Wednesday – having lost to Swindon Wildcats over two legs.
Watkins still had to make do without the services of Ricky Plant, Ross Connolly and Jack Watkins.
Tigers dominated much of the possession in the first period and got their reward in the 15th minute.
Jason Silverthorn passed from behind the goal to Joe Aston, who hammered home past Jordan Hedley in the Milton Keynes goal to give Tigers the lead.
Despite the Tigers’ dominance, Lightning were level before the end of the period.
Bobby Chamberlain netted for Milton Keynes with Corey Goodison unable to defend at the side of the Tigers’ goal after being struck in the leg by a puck, allowing Chamberlain to tap home past Brad Day.
Tigers lost all their fluidity in the second period and conceded two goals. Sam Talbot scored with a shot that deflected off Day and then Russell Cowley scored from a rebound after Day had saved Ben Russell’s initial shot.
Tigers were able to pull a goal back as Andy McKinney left the penalty box after serving a dubious slashing call. McKinney skated out of the box, got the puck and shot low to Hedley’s right to cut the lead to one.
Tigers immediately shot themselves in the foot though. Nick Oliver took a holding penalty, gifting the Lightning a power play. Leigh Jamieson scored with a long range shot that Day could not see as he was screened by a Milton Keynes forward.
Tigers refused to give up and narrowed the lead again with a power play goal of their own. Jonathan Weaver smashed a trademark slap shot past Hedley to give Tigers hope. But, even with Day pulled from the goal to give Telford an extra attacker, they could not score and lost the game by a single goal.
