Telford Tigers 2 win the Laidler Cup
Head coach Andy Wyatt was left 'incredibly proud' of his Telford Tigers 2 team after they won the Laidler Cup on Sunday night.
The Tigers overcame Sutton Sting 9-6 on aggregate to lift the trophy after increasing their 5-4 first-leg advantage from Saturday night in Shropshire.
Liam Bartholomew, Paul Davies, Taylor Stanton and Vladimir Luka scored the goals to seal a 4-2 victory at Sutton and lift the trophy.
Tigers head coach Wyatt said: “I’m incredibly proud of the players for the way they approached both legs of the final.
"We knew we had to be at our best, and they delivered with a fantastic performance.
"Full credit goes to our team for their hard work and dedication, Sutton Sting pushed us all the way and made it a great contest.”
Sutton Sting started the second leg quickly, taking an early lead at the Ice Sheffield Arena, with Cameron Akers putting the puck past Tigers’ Matty Byne to give the Sting a 1-0 advantage.
Bartholomew equalised for Telford, smashing the puck past Sting goalkeeper Lewis King to regain the lead on aggregate.
Tigers fell behind once again in third period with Cameron Glasby finding the back of the net, to make it 2-1 on the night.
Nevertheless, Telford fought back with Davies scoring a powerplay goal to bring the game back level and helping them regain control.
Stanton put the Tigers into the lead with a great finish to give his side control in the tie and edged them closer to the trophy.
As the game neared its end, Telford Tigers took advantage of Sting's last-ditch attempt of a comeback.
Sutton pulled King from their net to add an extra attacker and Luka shot from inside his own half into the empty goal to extinguish the hosts' hopes of revival.
