Telford Tigers assistant coach Greg Blais said it was like watching a new team after his side snatched a 3-1 win over EPL title-chasers Sheffield Steeldogs.

Sunday’s victory was a timely boost for fans after Telford lost 9-5 at play-off rivals Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday.

The Tigers do, nevertheless, remain 12 points adrift of the final post-season berth, but Blais is hoping his men can use Sunday’s win as the catalyst for a late play-off charge.

He said: “We came out really strong and Daniel Croft in particular was amazing.

“We looked like a whole new team out there and it is looking very good for us.

“Next weekend against Guildford is looking very positive and hopefully we will be looking at a four-point weekend. I was very proud of the boys.”

Scott McKenzie (2), Joe Henry, Tom Soar and Tom Castle were on the scoresheet in Peterborough, while Tom Watkins, Luke Brittle and McKenzie struck against Sheffield

Sunday’s victory was watched by well over 500 fans – one of Telford’s biggest gates of the season – and for Blais, the subsequent atmosphere played a huge part in his side’s victory.

He said: “It is great having a crowd like that. I said in the locker room before the game that we had a big crowd and needed to come out and play. We did exactly that.

“The fans run the team here and it is really good support. I was so proud to be on the bench tonight and see the standing ovations.”

Telford’s final goal of the evening was an open-net strike from McKenzie, scored as the visitors pushed for an equaliser with just seconds left on the clock.

That will have been sweet revenge for Telford fans, who have twice watched their side lose to the Steeldogs by narrow margins this season.

Sheffield coach Andre Payette, meanwhile, bemoaned his side’s poor judgement in front of goal during a frentic final period.

He said: “Other than Telford, we have got the youngest team in the league and it showed. You can’t take nights off on the road and in the third period we missed seven or eight one-on-one chances.

“Those sort of chances have been going in all year for us, but not here.

“To be fair, Telford should have beaten us in all three games here this season.

“Tom’s team will take a lot of points off teams at home, as they work really hard.”

The Tigers will now focus on a double-header of games against Guildford Flames next weekend, with a trip to Surrey on Saturday, before a meeting at home just 24 hours later.