Watkins pleased to see Telford Tigers 'dig in'
Head coach Tom Watkins was pleased to see his Telford Tigers dig deep – even though they ultimately came up short against Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday night.

The Tigers were not able to end the Lightning’s 100 per cent start to the season as they went down to the final goal of a closely-fought seven-goal contest at Telford Ice Rink.
Vladimir Luka, Fin Howells and Bayley Harewood found the net for Tigers in a topsy-turvy encounter.
“The boys really dug deep tonight and unfortunately came up short in a very entertaining game of hockey,” said Watkins. “Both teams played really hard in front of a lot of new fans in Telford Ice Rink and a good crowd overall. A great advert for hockey at this level.
“We knew that Milton Keynes carry a very talented group offensively and we tried to slow them down on the transition.
“I thought we did that very well and limited quality opportunities off the rush.
“Special teams although very positive for us tonight, but we did give up a short-handed goal, which was a blow and ultimately cost us the points.
“If we continue to play the way we are then good things will happen for this group. We have a lot heart and play hard every night.”
Telford Tigers returned to home ice after a victory on the road over Sheffield Steeldogs the previous evening.
The opening period saw end-to-end action, with both teams showing their prowess in front of goal.
Tigers struck first in the fifth minute of the game. Fin Howells sent Scott McKenzie in on goal, allowing the Tigers’ forward to shoot low at Jordan Hedley in the Lightning goal. The puck rebounded perfectly to Vladimir Luka, who was waiting in the right circle to hammer the rebound into the open net.
Milton Keynes were handed a glorious chance of an equaliser when Corey Goodison was called for boarding, closely followed by McKenzie for tripping, giving Milton Keynes an extended five-on-three power play.
Halfway through the penalties, Sam Watkins battled out of his own defensive zone and broke away on the Milton Keynes goal, as he was about to shoot he was hooked and a penalty shot was awarded to Telford. Luka took the penalty shot, but his low wrist shot went wide of the goal.
Milton Keynes then equalised when Tigers had got one player back from the penalty box. Sean Norris’s shot was tipped past Brad Day by Tim Wallace to draw the sides level.
Telford then had a power play chance of their own when Leigh Jamieson was awarded a high sticking penalty.
But disaster struck for Telford when Liam Stewart broke away short-handed and shot low past Day to put the Lightning ahead.
Less than a minute later, Telford were level. A scramble in front of Hedley’s goal saw the puck land perfectly for Howells to slam it home. Telford were the better team for much of the second period and were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions.
Despite Tigers having most of the pressure on the Milton Keynes goal, it would be Lightning that would score next. Tigers’ defence was caught flatfooted, allowing Sam Talbot a break away, which he scored with a back-handed shot over Day’s blocker.
But Telford levelled once more when Danny Rose circled the net and sent the puck in front of goal for Bayley Harewood to shoot through Hedley and into the back of the net to equalise.
The game was decided with a scrappy goal early in the third period. The puck broke in front of goal to the unmarked Ross Green, who shot low past Day to give Lightning a lead they would hold on to.