Tom Watkins believes consistency is Telford Tigers’ Achilles heel after his side continued their winning streak on home ice with a 5-4 victory over Guildford Flames – after they lost 9-1 in Surrey just 24 hours earlier.

Sunday’s win over Guildford, which came after a dramatic penalty shoot-out, was Telford’s second consecutive scalp at the ice rink, following on from their success over Sheffield last weekend.

But with both victories coming after heavy away defeats, player-coach Watkins will be looking to improve his side’s record on the road if they are to close the 13-point gap to a play-off place.

He said: “There were a lot of guys who put in great performances. Daniel Croft made a great play at the end when he was facing a two-on-one and

Marek Hornak was awesome. He hunted down so many pucks that he got onto the end of.

“We have just got to get our consistency levels right home and away. It used to be that we were better on the road, but now we are better at home. We have got to address that.”

Callum Bowley was the scorer for Telford in Guildford on Saturday as the hosts, who remain five-points clear at the top of the English Premier League standings, dominated proceedings.

But it was a different story on Sunday as goals from Josh Bruce, Luke Brittle, Tomas Janak and Scott McKenzie gave the Tigers a 4-1 cushion in the middle of the third period. A fightback from Guildford forced the game into overtime, with Telford claiming their seventh penalty shootout win of the campaign.

Watkins added: “There were nerves all the way through, as it was such a bounce-back game after the loss at their rink.

“We expected a lot of fight from Guildford and they showed that true professionals they are be getting back into it the game in the third period.”
Guildford player-coach Paul Dixon, meanwhile, believes his side paid the price for a poor start, as Telford capitalised during the opening exchanges, but added: “Telford rightly deserved to take the win.”

Tigers have a potentially decisive set of games next weekend, with fellow play-off chasers Bracknell Bees and Peterborough Phantoms the opponents.