Telford Tigers 1 took on former EPL rivals Hull Pirates in an NIHL Autumn Trophy game on Saturday night. Tigers had lost the previous two games in the competition to Swindon Wildcats and were looking to get back to winning ways. Tigers were again without the suspended Jonathan Weaver but Joe Miller returned from injury to boost the team.
Tigers started the game on the back foot and took a number of needless penalties. However, they took the lead in the 11th minute whilst shorthanded, after taking a second consecutive too many men penalty. Ricky Plant scored after receiving a pass from Jason Silverthorn. Tigers ending the period with a narrow lead.
Tigers started the 2nd period much better and increased their lead in the 24th minute when Joe Miller scored, with Silverthorn and Plant getting the assists. And just over a minute later, Dan Mitchell scored a third with Jed Moreland and coach Tom Watkins with the assists. Just when it looked like Tigers would run away with the game, former Tigers player Matty Davies pulled a goal back for Hull to leave Tigers 3-1 ahead at the end of the period.
The third period saw Hull trying to get back into the game and Tigers trying to catch them on the break. It was Hull who scored next, with a goal from Jason Hewitt in the 55th minute to reduce the lead. Within a minute of their 2nd goal, Lee Bonner struck to level the game at 3-3. With Tigers on the back foot for the remainder of the period, Hull caught them out with just four seconds left on the clock, scoring to win the game and send Tigers to their third consecutive defeat.
Final Score Hull Pirates 4 Telford Tigers 3
Man of the match – Jordan Stokes
After the game a disappointed Tom Watkins said, “We have to show more character, we gave away a great opportunity to win and gave away momentum in the second period and never got it back” Watkins added, ”They capitalised on our mistakes at key moments, when we made some bad decisions. I don’t think we showed enough character and we need to win our puck battles, make smarter decisions and need to bounce back tomorrow”.
Telford Tigers 1 are next at home on Sunday 29th October against Hull Pirates with a 6pm face off. For more information and ticket details go to www.telfordtigers.net
