Autocraft Telford Tigers faced off for their only game of the weekend against the Romford Raiders. With Head Coach Tom Watkins still with the Great Britain U20 team, Jason Silverthorn led the team. Telford had been short benched recently and were without a number of players and with Vladimir Luka unavailable, Silverthorn iced as the Tiger’s third import.
Prior to the game starting, Telford Tigers paid tribute to photographer Steve Brodie who sadly passed away this week. A camera was placed at centre ice and a minute’s silence held by the crowd, which was impeccably observed.
Tigers had lost three in a row and were in need of points to climb the table after dropping to tenth place and needing a huge upturn in form to get back into playoff contention.
The opening period was a tough one for the home crowd to watch as the visitors totally dominated. Telford were given a warning early in the game when Raiders’ Shaun Miller broke away unopposed but shot wide of the goal. The warning wasn’t heeded though as with exactly five minutes on the clock, Miller scored to put Raiders ahead.
Two minutes later the lead was doubled when Raiders broke away after a Tigers’ attack was halted, allowing Miller to score his second of the game with a low shot.
Romford scored a third goal shortly after with a long range shot from Brandon Ayliffe going in off the cross bar with Brad Day screened.
With the crowd stunned into silence a penalty by James Smith gave Romford a chance to increase their lead. But despite Raiders having a man advantage, it would be Telford that scored whilst short handed. Devon Skoleski broke away with the puck and sent a pass across goal to Adam Harding who scored for Tigers.
Hopes of a Telford comeback were put on hold at the start of the second period as Ayliffe was left unmarked to fire home a pass from Miller for Romford’s fourth goal.
With Raiders continuing to pressure the Tigers’ goal, Andrew Shewfelt hit the crossbar and the visitors looked likely to add more goals. Telford pulled a goal back when Fin Howells found Scott McKenzie unmarked in the slot, allowing the Tigers’ captain to score.
Then a remarkable few seconds of action saw Tigers score twice to level the game! Skoleski set up Ferguson who scored with a low shot and then just nine seconds after the restart, Howells sent Silverthorn clear on goal and the veteran forward showed he has lost none of his stick handling ability when he beat Raiders’ net minder Ethan James, sending him the wrong way and scoring into the open net.
With Tigers back level, the game was finely balanced but an ill advised tripping penalty at the start of the third period by Ryan Leese allowed the visitors to get back in front, with a power play goal from Jake Sylvester.
Tigers were running out of time as the game reached the final five minutes and they pushed hard for the equaliser. Their determination paid off when Ferguson sent a pass from behind the goal to Skoleski, whose shot went in off James to draw the sides level.
A remarkable comeback was sealed with two minutes of the game to play. A Skoleski pass hit a Raiders defender on the skates and landed perfectly for Harding to slam the puck into the net from close range and win the game. Tigers gain a much needed two points and a well earned victory.
Final Score: Autocraft Telford Tigers 6 Romford Raiders 5.
Scorers: Adam Harding (2), Scott McKenzie, Harry Ferguson, Devon Skoleski and Jason Silverthorn.
Man of the match: Adam Harding.
After the game Assistant Coach Jason Silverthorn, commented, “That was a great character win. We showed loads of resilience and competed hard to come back from 4-1 down to tie the game. Brad (Day) made some key saves in the second period to allow us time to get back in the game and we capitalised on our chances. The whole team really dug deep during the third period and got a well deserved two pts.”
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