Tom Watkins anger over Telford Tigers’ slow starts

Tigers suffered an overtime defeat at reigning NIHL Moralee Conference champions Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday.

The 5-4 loss came after the visitors found themselves 3-0 down for the second time in as many days after the same thing happened against Whitley Warriors on Saturday.

Watkins said: “For the first 20 minutes we didn’t look like we wanted to play. No team can afford to go behind three goals and expect to win.

“That’s twice in two games and it’s unacceptable. We need to play with some jam from the get-go.

“We showed good character to get something from the game at 3-0 down and 4–2 down with just over a minute to go, but I still feel like we dropped a point and I expect a higher standard of performance. We had too many passengers this weekend.

“For two periods we played the way we need to play, with the right desire and passion to compete.”

Tigers conceded in the third minute after Jason Silverthorn had taken a roughing penalty and Ashley Calvert scored for Sheffield from close range.

They went further behind in the fourth minute when a low shot from Cameron Brownley snuck past the pads of Tigers netminder Denis Bell.

Things got even worse for Tigers in the 13th minute. Charles Thompson’s shot was initially saved by Bell but the puck fell to Andrew Hirst, who hit a fierce shot into the corner of the net before the netminder could get back to his feet.

The visitors finally got on the scoresheet with their first chance of the game in the 16th minute.

Tigers were on a power play and made full advantage of the extra man with some neat passing between Silverthorn and Jonathan Weaver, leaving Ricky Plant free at the far post to score.

The second period saw both sides taking plenty of penalties and this made the game scrappy.

Tigers’ Brodie Jesson missed a breakaway chance and Andy McKinney’s close-range shot was well saved by Sheffield’s netminder Dimitri Zimozdra.

The only goal of the period was scored by Tigers whilst shorthanded, after Jed Moreland had taken a roughing penalty for a hit on former Tigers player Milan Kolena. As Sheffield attacked, Weaver stole the puck and passed to Silverthorn.

He found Plant in space to score with a precise wrist shot.

The thirdrd period was a tense one, Tigers threatened but just couldn’t get the breakthrough. Weaver went close with a back handed shot and Silverthorn hit the post.

As the game entered its latter stages, Bell was pulled to give Tigers an extra attacker.

But Sheffield managed to score in the 59th minute, Duncan Speirs shooting into an empty net from long distance to put his side 4-2 up. Just as it looked like the game was gone, Scott McKenzie scored with 52 seconds left, tapping into the net from close range.

Bell was again pulled to give Tigers an extra man and it paid off with Silverthorn forcing home the equaliser with 14 seconds left after another goalmouth scramble.

The game went into five minutes of sudden death overtime, but it would be Sheffield who would take the two points after Weaver was given a penalty for interference and Sheffield scored a power play goal through Kolena.

Tigers gain one point after falling to their first defeat of the season.