Telford Tigers v Basingstoke and Bracknell
Double man of the match winner Joe Henry set the tone for a fabulous four-point weekend by opening the scoring after just seven seconds as Telford Tigers stormed to wins over Basingstoke and Bracknell.
Double man of the match winner Joe Henry set the tone for a fabulous four-point weekend by opening the scoring after just seven seconds as Telford Tigers stormed to wins over Basingstoke and Bracknell.
"I just went straight from the face-off, skated over the blue line, shot it and it went in," said Henry.
"That's got to be one of the fastest goals I've scored in pro hockey."
Henry's quickfire opener signalled a continuation of the good form Tigers showed last weekend against Manchester. But while they failed to take a point from Phoenix, Bison proved less of a challenge.
Scott McKenzie and Luke Brittle joined Henry on the scoresheet, the first period ending 3-2 to Tigers.
Henry extended the lead at 26:15, although Basingstoke narrowed the gap with a shorthanded goal.
Jack Watkins added one at 42:48 but Bison struck straight back before Andrejs Maslovskis scored on the powerplay to make it 6-4.
A couple of clashes, between Telford's Mike Jones and Chris Wiggins, and Maslovskis and Carl Graham, preceded Tigers' final goal of the night as Joe Henry wrapped up his hat trick at 56:20 to record the Shropshire lads' first win over Basingstoke.
The unexpected victory was followed up by a 5-4 domination of Bracknell.
Luke Brittle was first to net for Tigers, on the powerplay at 15:48, with Josh Bruce doubling the score just 17 seconds later. However Bees stung back, equalising by the 18th minute.
A niggly second period saw just one goal, for Tigers, as Joe Henry made it 3-2.
Andrejs Maslovskis added a solo strike at 42:16, before the referee awarded a disputed goal to Bracknell.
Scott McKenzie made it 5-3, following his puck into the goal face first, and although Bees added a consolation goal they were incapable of pushing the game into overtime.
By CAROLINE GARBETT





