Telford Tigers clinch first two points
Telford Tigers collected their first points of the English Premier League season with a 6-3 win over Slough Jets on Saturday. But Tigers were unable to repeat that feat against a physical Sheffield Steeldogs side just 24 hours later.
Match highlights filmed and produced by Howling Monkey Media
Victory at the Hangar in Slough lifted Telford into the play-off positions for the first time since the start of last season, albeit with just five games of the new campaign having been played.
Sunday's game, however, was a much more physical affair, as the Yorkshire outfit capitalised on a tired-looking performance from Telford. A highlight for the county side was man of the match Owen Bennett, who refused to allow Sheffield to bully his team-mates, becoming involved in three fights throughout the evening.
But Tigers coach Tom Watkins - playing his first game since knee surgery - remained disappointed that his side was not able to deliver a four-point weekend. He said: "We have got to take the momentum of an away win into a Sunday game, no matter who we are playing. If we had done that and put in a good performance, we probably wouldn't have lost.
"Sheffield played well and I said in my programme notes that a lot of their players would walk into any other side in the league. Across the weekend, I am disappointed and I expected better tonight. I felt we let ourselves down in patches and didn't play with the energy of the last few weeks."
Both Scott McKenzie and Nathan Salem bagged a brace apiece in Slough on Saturday night, as Telford resisted a determined fightback from the play-off hopefuls. Callum Bowley and Tom Watkins joined them on the scoresheet.
Salem was once again amongst the goals on Sunday, alongside Marek Mikusovic. Much of the damage was done in the third period, thanks to two goals in just three minutes from the Steeldogs.
Watkins reserved most of his praise for local player Bennett, who took on one of the EPL's noted 'hard men', Andre Payette. "Fair play to Owen - he did a job that not a lot of people would want to do," Watkins said. "He went three times and if our other players did that, we would be a much tougher club. It is a role that Owen enjoys and he plays up to it. He loves all the fanfare and good luck to him. He is a great character and a great lad." Telford must now regroup before taking on Peterborough Phantoms in a series of home-and away games on Saturday and Sunday.
