Telford Trojans celebrating their 5-4 win over Nottingham Leopards

Telford Trojans under-18s maintained their unbeaten league run with a tight 5-4 road win over Nottingham Leopards.

Leopards are one of the stronger teams in the league and likely challengers for a place in the National finals at the end of the season, so the victory will go a long way to building confidence among Telford’s young ice hockey stars.

In a lightning start to the game, it took just 33 seconds for the Trojans to open their account – Paul Rigby placing a shot through heavy traffic, assisted James Warman and Edward Eaton.

Nottingham bounced back, forcing the game to the

Trojans end zone, and Telford started to pick up penalties as the pressure mounted.

Telford goalie Ben Hunt saw off a number of powerplay attacks but when Trojans came back to full strength they clinched a second goal, Callum Taylor scoring at 5:35, assisted by Adam Taylor and Ryan Twardun.

Going into the second period, a defensive lapse from Leopards handed a powerplay to Telford, with Adam Taylor making it 3-0, aided by Luke Brittle and Warman.

Tense

Despite their lead, Telford weren’t having it all their own way, and Leopards struck back with a devastating attack – three quick goals levelled the scores going into the final session.

Callum Taylor pushed Trojans back in front early in the third, but Nottingham equalised at 57:32, setting up a tense final few minutes.

Spirit of the game winner Adam Taylor took the initiaive, picking up a pass from Edward Eaton and racing to beat the Leopard’s goalie one-on-one with a blistering slapshot at 58:16.

Nottingham pulled their goalie, but the extra man was not able to change the 5-4 scoreline, keeping alive Telford dreams of a place in the Nationals.

SCORERS: Adam Taylor 2+1; Callum Taylor 2+0 ; Paul Rigby 1+0; Luke Brittle, Edward Eaton, James Warman 0+2; Ryan Twardun 0+1