Dumas warns sorry Tigers

Player-coach Claude Dumas has issued a 'shape up or ship out' warning to his team after Telford Tigers lost 5-3 at home to bottom club Wightlink.

Dumas admitted he was "gutted and embarrassed" by the result, which came just 24 hours after a 9-2 thrashing at Slough Jets.

Wightlink Raiders had won just two games this season - the last when the Tigers visited the island before Christmas - but they looked far hungrier, despite going 1-0 down early on as Telford's Jared Owen snatched a goal after just 38 seconds.

Jason Coles equalised for the visitors with a powerful one-timer at three minutes, and then former Tiger Norman Pinnington took them ahead at 11:58.

A further two unanswered goals left Tigers trailing 4-1 at the end of the first period - and looking shell-shocked.

Dumas opened the second session with a powerplay goal at 21:41, assisted by Milan Kostolny and Juraj Huska, but Coles restored the three-goal cushion on a delayed penalty five minutes later.

It was the last positive thing Coles did as, at 32:34, he savagely cross-checked Tigers defenceman Stuart Bates in the mouth, damaging several of the 19-year-old's teeth.

Mark Hazlehurst and netminder Daniel Heslop leapt to the defence of their young team mate, with Haze joining Coles for an early shower for his part in the ensuing fracas.

The third period was decidedly lacklustre, with Wightlink equal to almost anything Tigers could offer.

Dumas took a powerplay goal at the midway point to narrow the gap, and as the clock ticked down Telford pulled goalie Heslop to try to push for the draw.

Kostolny rattled the post, but that was as close as Tigers were able to get, finishing the game 5-3 down.

Telford under-19 Tim Burrows picked up the man of the match award.

Afterwards Dumas said: "This weekend has been a very low point for me as a coach. There are two weeks to go and if some people don't want to play for our team any more, maybe it's time that they go now, and we'll carry on with the players who really do want to finish the season.

"I really wanted to finish the season with a few wins and really believed we would get a few more points."

Saturday saw Telford on the road to fourth-placed Slough Jets, and it was former Tiger Daniel Mackriel who did the early damage with two goals in the first 10 minutes.

Jared Owen clawed back a shorthanded goal at 12:00, but Slough put two more in to take a 4-1 lead into the break.

The Jets scored three more before man of the match Mathias Soderstrom found the net, assisted by Milan Kostolny and Claude Dumas, at 31:17.

But Slough still had their scoring boots on, with Steve Moria and Zoran Kosic both taking hat tricks.