Telford Tigers land Castle for play-offs push

Telford Tigers have swooped for winger Tom Castle from Hartford Juniors in the United States after a weekend that saw them lose to both Milton Keynes Lightning and Manchester Phoenix in the English Premier League.

A 7-2 defeat to Milton Keynes on Saturday was followed by an 8-5 loss at home to the Phoenix on Sunday, albeit with their chief rivals for the final play-off spot – Bracknell and Peterborough – also losing.

Those results mean Telford retain a theoretical chance of grabbing a slice of post-season action, with the other two bottom sides still to play the Tigers six times. And the sudden availability of former Milton Keynes youngster Castle was too good a chance for player-coach Tom Watkins to miss.

He said: "Tom is coming in because we need to bulk up to nine regular forwards.

"He skates well and is very quick. He is pretty strong and in great shape.

"I want him to do a basic job – keep it simple and grind it out. I'm not expecting really high numbers and I?don't want to put too much pressure on him.

"He has been playing against young lads and it is a bit different playing against men week in and week out, but I think he will be a good acquisition."

The 21-year-old been at university in the States and scored two goals in 24 games for the Portland Pirates in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League last season.

He started the 2011/12 campaign with Hartford Junior Wolfpacks and is looking forward to playing in the EPL next weekend.

Castle said: "Junior A is a lot more physical, but I think in terms of experience in this league you get a lot of guys who have played pro a lot, so we can learn from them."

Last weekend's defeats saw Tigers establish an early lead before late charges gave their opponents relatively comfortable wins.

Henrik Sahlin and Marek Hornak scored against Milton Keynes, while Scott McKenzie (2), Sahlin, Josh Bruce and Luke Brittle were on target on Sunday.

Watkins remained impressed by his side's goalscoring efforts – especially on Sunday – when they put late pressure on the Phoenix. He said: "I am really proud of our forwards.

"We scored five against Manchester and put them them on the back foot in the third period."

Telford have tough fixtures with a trip to Slough Jets on Saturday before the visit of Basingstoke Bison on Sunday.