Tom Watkins urges Telford Tigers to bite back

The Tigers, who beat Manchester Phoenix 4-2 in Telford on Saturday, are still joint top of the early English Premier League standings, alongside Milton Keynes Lightning.

A dramatic encounter in Peterborough saw the Tigers fight back from an early 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 with seconds remaining, only for their hosts to equalise on the stroke of full-time.

And after watching his men lose the resulting penalty shoot-out, Watkins criticised their performance in the first two periods. He said: "We definitely didn't battle enough tonight and we didn't start battling until the third period.

"You can't turn up for just a third of a hockey game without that spirit and it is disappointing with the level of talent we have in the dressing room.

"I said to the guys that tonight was a big wake-up call for them. That point we've lost has got to sting us right now and sting us for the rest of the year."

The first period in Peterborough was an even-handed affair, with neither side able to produce scoring opportunities of any real quality.

The second session was more physical and the hosts gave away an early powerplay – although Telford were unable to capitalise. Both Rick Plant and Milan Kolena missed out from close range, but it was Peterborough who opened the scoring on 30 minutes.

The Phantoms doubled that advantage just a few minutes later, although Telford again began to regain control towards the end of the period.

And they were rewarded for those efforts with three minutes of the session remaining, when Corey McEwen struck with a fine breakaway effort.

The final period saw Telford finally hit their stride with Jason Silverthorn adding a second from close range on 47 minutes.

Joe Miller then took advantage of another powerplay to give his side the lead for the first time in the game with just nine minutes left.

But having removed their netminder in favour of an extra forward, the hosts scored a last-gasp equaliser with three seconds left on the clock.

That strike led to overtime and then penalty shots, with Telford seeing two of their shots saved, while Peterborough scored twice to seal victory.

Watkins added: "Peterborough's young netminder, Adam Long, was excellent tonight.

"In many ways, he was the difference. But what happened at the end shouldn't have happened.

"We should be able to make sure that with 22 seconds on the clock, we win the face-off, put the puck down the ice and the game is over.

"I think we were second-best tonight to a team that was a lot hungrier than us and played with a lot more desire."

Telford Tigers are back in action next weekend, when they travel to face Milton Keynes on Saturday before the visit of Swindon Wildcats to Telford Ice Rink on Sunday.