Tom Watkins delighted as his Telford Tigers pass ‘gut check’
Telford Tigers head coach Tom Watkins has expressed his delight after they showed ‘a lot of resilience’ to get back to winning ways.
The Tigers, having lost 6-4 against Raiders at Telford Ice Rink on Saturday, managed to return the favour by prevailing 5-3 in Romford on Sunday evening.
Watkins’ charges came back from two goals down, with the National League leaders halting a three-match losing run.
“It was a real gut check time for us and we needed to show a lot of resilience to bounce back,” said Watkins.
“It has been a tough weekend against a team we respect a lot, who never stop and you know you’re going to have to be at your best to compete.
“It was a big challenge but a great feeling to get this ship turned around and moving in the right direction again.
“The team rose to the challenge and showed strong mental fortitude, particularly after falling two goals behind, but no panic and from there a very good professional performance.”
Tigers, who are four points clear at the top, welcomed Thomas McKinnon back from injury.
They made a poor start to the game and found themselves a goal behind in the early stages.
Erik Piatak was allowed far too much time and space to skate in on goal and lift the puck over Brad Day, putting Raiders ahead.
Telford almost conceded again straight after as Day left his goal to play the puck and his attempted clearance hit the glass and landed perfectly for a Raiders’ forward who shot at the empty net, but Jonathan Weaver had covered behind Day and blocked the shot.
The reprieve was temporary though as further poor defending gave Tommy Huggett a free run on goal and he scored at the second attempt.
Tigers finally started to get some pressure on Michael Gray in the Raiders’ goal and pulled a goal back.
Weaver’s strike was saved by Gray and Jason Silverthorn’s follow-up shot rebounded to Ricky Plant who shot past Gray to halve the Raiders’ lead.
Telford later drew level as Bayley Harwood took control of the puck at the halfway line and skated at speed towards goal.
With Raiders expecting a pass, Harewood hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the goal past Gray.
Within two minutes, Tigers had their first lead of the night.
Jack Hopkins sent a cross ice pass to Vladimir Luka, who entered the Raiders’ defensive zone and hammered a fierce shot past Gray, making it 3-2 to Tigers.
The third period saw Tigers dominate further and early on added a fourth goal.
Gray had made a save from Silverthorn and Weaver was first to the rebound, with the veteran waiting patiently before sending a low shot past Gray.
Tigers then added a fifth goal whilst short handed.
As McKinnon was serving a clipping penalty, Plant and Silverthorn combined to give the Tigers’ captain a tap-in.
JJ Pitchley scored shortly after with a power play goal for Raiders to cut Tigers’ lead to two, but Telford sensibly saw out the rest of the game without giving Raiders any clear cut chances.
Up next for Tigers is a trip to third-placed MK Lightning on Saturday, before they welcome bottom-of-the-table Bees to Telford Ice Rink on Sunday.
