Tom Watkins: Lucky win for Telford Tigers

Tigers recovered from the disappointment of losing out on the Spring Cup to Sheffield Steeldogs by beating the Bees 4-3 after a penalty shootout.

They also halted a run of three consecutive defeats, but Watkins insists they could have easily suffered another loss.

“It was a very ugly, lucky win which totally flatters us as a team because other than for 10 minutes in the second period, we were outplayed,” he said,

“We didn’t create any quality chances as Bracknell didn’t give us any time and space, and did a good job of keeping us to the outside.

“We got going in the second when Kieran Brown made a couple of good hits but other than that, I thought we were lucky to win the game.”

Having made a sluggish start in defeat to Swindon on Friday, Tigers continued in the same vein. Bracknell took the lead in the fifth minute with a fortuitous bounce falling their way.

Lewis Hook’s shot went wide of the goal by some margin but bounced off the back board and landed on the other side of the goal, perfectly placed for Ciaran Long to tap into the net. Bracknell then added a second goal as Hook’s shot deflected past Jordan Hedley.

Tigers were not passing well and had struggled to put Bracknell under pressure but a clean hit by Tigers’ Kieran Brown sparked a comeback.

Bracknell were attempting to answer the hit and committed a roughing penalty. From the resulting power play, Tigers scored as David Clements hit a shot from the right circle, which deflected off a Bracknell player in front of Goss and bounced into the net.

From the next attack, Bracknell gave away another penalty and Tigers scored their second goal on the power play. Robert Lachowicz drew the Bracknell defence and sent a pass across the ice to the unmarked Jack Watkins, who fired home.

With Tigers dominating they lost focus and, with just five seconds of the period left, Bracknell regained the lead – Vanya Antonov shooting over Hedley.

Tigers equalised in the final two minutes of regulation, with Jonathan Weaver on the mark.

A goalless overtime period resulted in penalty shots and after both sides saw their first two efforts saved, Long scored for Bracknell and Ross Venus for Tigers to send the shootout into sudden death.

Long stepped up again first for Bracknell but Hedley saved his shot, leaving Scott McKenzie the chance to win. He sent the puck between the legs of Goss, who slid back into the net and took the puck with him to give Tigers the win.