Telford Tigers want a magnificent seven
Telford Tigers chief Tom Watkins immediately turned his attention to tomorrow night's clash with Hull Pirates following Telford's 6-4 win away to Bracknell Bees.
Watkins' men claimed their third success in as many days, extending a winning run that now stands at six matches.
They are now resting ahead of Hull's midweek visit to Shropshire, with third place in the English Premier League standings now becoming a realistic target.
Watkins said: "The game looked close overall, but the main thing is that we did enough to win. It was scrappy, so coming back with two points was the goal for us.
"It is ultimately about results, and grinding them out. Bracknell have got nothing to lose, so they kept coming at us. They put us on the back foot, but we deserved to win.
"We're on a bit of a roll at the moment, so that game is over and we've got to look ahead. The guys will need to get a good rest."
Telford were quick off the mark against the Bees, scoring after just two minutes, thanks to Max Birbraer.
Bracknell equalised with five minutes of the period remaining, although Danny Rose regained the lead ahead of the interval.
Joe Miller added a third just after the restart, but they were again pegged back by the hosts three minutes later.
The county men struck for a fourth time through Peter Szabo on 26 minutes – only for Bracknell to once again reduce the deficit to one.
Birbraer snatched his second goal of the night at the halfway point of the game, before Jason Silverthorn scored a sixth at the start of the final session.
But it was Bracknell who completed the scoring on 53 minutes, leading to a dramatic final few minutes – although Telford hung on to claim victory.
Watkins added: "These games are all about momentum and confidence, which means the guys are doing all the little things right.
"Our special teams in particular have been excellent, which is one of the tools that gives us the platform to go on and win matches.
"Our netminding has been great as well, so those things combined have been key factors for us over the last few weeks."
Telford kick-started their run of success with a fine 3-0 shut-out at Milton Keynes Lightning on Friday, followed by a 4-3 home success against Manchester Phoenix.
They remain sixth in the table, but have matches in hand on the teams above them and are closing the gap.
However, tomorrow they will be wary of the challenge posed by the Pirates, who got off the bottom of the league table with back- to-back victories themselves over Bracknell and Manchester.
Tomorrow night's game against Hull Pirates, at Telford Ice Rink, faces off at 7.30pm.
Meanwhile, Jason Parry will work his Tigers NIHL troops hard in training this week following their 3-3 draw with Sheffield Spartans at Telford Ice Rink.
The Shropshire youngsters returned to action on Sunday against a Sheffield side that dominated early proceedings, raining in 22 shots on netminder Denis Bell during the first period alone.
But, with Telford's defence holding firm in those opening exchanges, they led 3-2 at the start of the third period – only to lose out on victory in the final moments.
Parry believes a week of intense work in training will help his side to prepare for a tough set of games next weekend.
He said: "I was happy to come away with a point, as we were missing five key players, but I thought we were flat after Christmas and the lack of training.
"We took the lead, but allowed them too much time and space to get shots on us. We grew into the game in the second period and hung on in the third, thanks to some great saves from Denis.
"It's not so much fitness, but sharpness and timing. We've got two games next weekend and training this week, so we should be back up and running."
Joe Aston was on target with Telford's first goal, against the run of play, on three minutes. The visitors hit back four minutes later, before taking a 2-1 lead.
A relatively quiet second session saw Telford level just before the final interval, thanks to Karol Jets.
Corey Goodison scored Tigers' third goal on 47 minutes, only for Sheffield to hit back in a dramatic closing five minutes.
Parry added: "I think we allowed them to shoot from wide too much. We know Denis can save them, but they still shot too easily.
"I would have taken a point before the game, but I still believe we could have taken both."
Tigers NIHL return to home action on Saturday night when they host Sutton Sting (5.30pm), before the return in Yorkshire on Sunday.
