The lack of two key defencemen cost GM Telford Tigers ice hockey side dearly.

They fell 5-4 to title chasers Peterborough in a close fought game at home – then suffered a heavy 8-1 defeat in Bracknell.

With injured Jake Armstrong unlikely to recover before the end of the season, and Daniel Croft suspended, Tigers’ remaining four D-men are under extreme pressure and, as the weekend wore on, fatigue led to costly mistakes.

Saturday opened with a powerplay goal to visitors Peterborough, but Tigers quickly struck back with a fabulous reflex shot from James Knight, assisted by Ashley Stanton and Daniel Mackriel at 3:42.

Marek Hornak added a stunning goal just 13 seconds later, completing the perfect set-up from Gareth Owen and Claude Dumas.

And Alex Symonds made it 3-1 with a big slapshot at 6:26, from Tom Carlon and Knight.

However, just as Phantoms came back from a penalty they scored a classic breakaway goal to prevent Tigers from running away with it.

The visitors equalised early in the second period, and then went ahead after an error clearing the puck from the Telford zone.

Tigers were unable to capitalise on a five-on-three advantage, but Hornak brought them level at 38:33 as he skated in to collect a spot-on pass from Dumas and Owen and roofed the puck in a single move.

After such an even two periods, it was disappointing but not surprising that after going ahead with a powerplay goal at 41:42, Peterborough would prove unbeatable in the third period.

Player-coach Dumas said: “We worked very hard and stuck to the plan, but it’s a cruel game and they are at the top of the league for a reason.

“I thought we deserved to get into overtime, and if we could have won and gained some momentum it would have been a great boost to us.

“The hardest thing to take is that we played that way but still got nothing. It’s not because we didn’t try, or play good enough.

“If you look at our four goals, they were all as a result of really great plays.

“But Peterborough are very opportunistic and they took their chances well. They got two on the powerplay, I made a mistake on the fourth and one was on a bad change.

“I am getting the best out of my players. They are giving me 100 per cent, as they have all year. I cannot fault that. But we are missing that depth and that is hard for our confidence.

“They are playing with such heart, and we have to keep battling because I do believe we can still win games.”

That lack of depth told on Sunday however, as Bracknell raced to a 4-0 lead in the first period, with little from Telford to trouble them.

After another two goals against early in the second, Davey Lawrence was replaced by Daniel Heslop in goal and, although Bees scored another while he was still cold, Heslop helped the rest of the team settle for the remainder of the game.

Tom Carlon scored a powerplay goal just after the halfway mark, but that was the only time Tigers were able to get onto the score sheet.

Bees added a further goal in the third period for an 8-1 scoreline.

By Caroline Garbett