Tom Watkins demanding to see the eye of the Telford Tigers

Tigers had Rhodes Mitchell-King, Jason Silverthorn, Vladimir Luka and Corey Goodison on the mark as they won the first of the weekend’s double-header with Hull at Telford Ice Rink on Saturday.

Watkins, however, was left wanting more having failed to show a ‘killer instinct’.

Despite Tigers having all of the possession in the opening few minutes, Hull opened the scoring. A breakdown in play in the Tigers’ defensive zone saw the puck break to the unmarked Cameron Hamill, who guided it in off the bar.

Tigers spent the rest of the period on the attack and continued their dominance in possession at the start of the second period but fell even further behind when Nathan Salem combined with James Archer, allowing Archer to send a shot low along the ice past Brad Day.

The home side finally got on the scoreboard midway through the period. Mitchell-King hit a slap shot from the blue line that flew straight into the corner of the goal.

The goal was just the boost Telford needed and they were soon level. With Hull’s James Chilcott in the penalty box for hooking, Telford’s power play worked an opening. Scott McKenzie’s shot was saved and Silverthorn was first to the rebound to fire Tigers level.

Shortly after, Tigers had their first lead of the night when McKenzie skated to the net and sent the puck in front for Luka to smash past Curtis Warburton. With Hull tiring, the relentless pressure started to pay as Tigers added a fourth.

Goodison sent a shot in on goal that appeared to have been tipped by a Tigers’ forward but the goal was awarded to Goodison. They then had Day to thank for some saves in the third period as they held on.

“That was not our best performance at all but we got the two points,” said Watkins.

“We only played at the level of energy and intensity I want to see for about 10 minutes in the second period, where we scored four unanswered goals. With only a two-goal cushion throughout the third period I was nervous as you never know what’s going to happen. We should have put the game out of reach. We have to find that killer instinct.”

n Tigers won the the return clash at Hull Seahawks last night. After a goalless first period, Scott McKenzie set up Vladimir Luka for the opening goal of the contest midway through the second period. Early in the third period, Hull struck twice in quick succession with goals from Nathan Salem and Cameron Hamill. But, Tigers hit back with two goals of their own. Ricky Plant expertly finished off Jason Silverthorn’s pass and then Fin Howells scored from close range to win the contest with eight minutes left.