In-form Telford Tigers are buzzing

After opening their campaign with back-to-back victories over the Raiders, Tigers maintained their impressive start by beating visiting Bracknell Bees.

Cole Shudra, Ricky Plant, Scott McKenzie, Jason Silverthorn and Sam Jones all found the net in a 5-1 triumph that delighted head coach Tom Watkins.

“It was another pleasing win with lots of positives,” said Watkins. “Defensively, I thought we were solid, didn’t give up any odd man rushes and managed to stay out of the penalty box.

“We were on our game for 50 minutes, but for the second half of the second period we lost our intensity after they tied it up.

“The power play isn’t clicking at the moment and we need to keep it simple and be more direct until we become more familiar with one another. Our third/fourth line players really played at a good level and were confident going head to head with the Bees’ top unit. It was a good display all round.”

The key point that Tigers needed to rectify from their previous two games was the 75 minutes of penalties that the team had picked up over the first two games.

Tigers had a full roster available with the exception of Corey Goodison.

Brad Day started in goal for Telford with Adam Goss in the Bracknell net.

Both teams made a bright start with the first chance of the game falling to Bracknell’s Lewis Hook, but his shot from close range was well wide.

The game was physical with both teams looking to get hits in early. Tigers were in charge for most of the first five minutes with Joe Aston, McKenzie and Sam Watkins all getting shots in on goal to test Adam Goss.

Ross Venus and Robert Lachowicz combined well on a number of occasions and looked threatening whenever they were on the puck.

Midway through the first period, Tigers made the breakthrough. McKenzie sent Shudra into the Bracknell zone and he weaved his way towards goal before unleashing a shot from a tight angle that beat Goss low down.

Kieron Brown then almost added another goal when his wrist shot hit the crossbar and bounced out of play.

Bracknell pushed for the equaliser and a shot from Deakan Fielder hit the post before Brad Day was called upon to make a couple of saves. But Tigers’ defence worked well as then ended the opening period a goal to the good.

Tigers started the second period with a power play after James Galazzi was called for a late hit. But a series of long range shots from the hosts were easily saved by Goss.

As the game became more scrappy, Bees hit back to level with a short-handed goal. Fielder was sent to the penalty box for tripping giving Tigers a power play, but some sloppy play in the defensive zone allowed Hook to find Harvey Stead unmarked in front of goal and his shot beat Day low down.

The period ended with both teams looking to make their hits count and the game started to get feisty with Bracknell’s Josh Martin lucky to escape a penalty after the buzzer had sounded.

Tigers dominated the final period and took the lead after five minutes with a neat passing play.

Silverthorn sent Ross Venus in on goal, but instead of shooting he passed to Plant who slid the puck past Goss.

Less than a minute later, Tigers added a third. Lachowicz drove towards the net and slipped a perfectly timed pass to McKenzie who shot into the open net.

That goal clearly deflated the Bees’ and a fourth strike killed the contest off. A brilliant offensive rush by Jones allowed the defender to shoot for a rebound off Goss and leave Silverthorn a tap in from close range.

Tigers gave away only one penalty during the game – a hooking call on Plant – and from the resultant power play Bracknell should have scored but Bobby Chamberlain shot wide when presented with an open goal.

And it was Tigers who wrapped up the scoring when Jones netted a deserved goal in the final minute of the contest. A scramble in front of Goss saw the puck slammed in by Jones from almost in the goal crease to seal a comfortable win.

Final Score: Hexagon Telford Tigers 5 Bracknell Bees 1.

Scorers: Cole Shudra, Ricky Plant, Scott McKenzie, Jason Silverthorn and Sam Jones.

Man of the match: Nick Oliver.