Telford Tigers come out on top against Bees

The home side dominated much of the first period and Austin Mitchell-King had an early chance but shot straight at Bees net minder Adam Goss.

But Tigers were not to be denied and struck when Jason Silverthorn’s pass was deflected by the stick of Goss straight into the path of Ricky Plant, who took control of the puck and shot low into the net.

Bees then had their best chance of the game when Dominik Gabaj was hooked by Jack Watkins as he was about to shoot for goal and referee Alyward called a penalty shot. Gabaj skated in on Jordan Lawday in the Tigers’ goal but shot well wide.

The visitors would regret the miss as, shortly after, James Galazzi was given a slashing penalty and Tigers took advantage of the extra man. Scott McKenzie sent a pass from behind the goal to the unmarked Silverthorn to score from close range.

Bees settled into the second period and had an early 2-on-1 breakaway but Lawday made a good save. A penalty strewn second period saw both teams score with their final power play of the period.

First, Tigers netted through Andy McKinney while Gabaj was in the penalty box.

Jonathan Weaver’s blue line shot was tipped in front of Goss by Andy McKinney with the deflection beating the Bees’ netminder to increase Tigers’ lead to three.

Then, Bees got on the score sheet when Jonathan Weaver was serving a boarding penalty – Michael Power the man on target.

but the Tigers’ net minder complained to the officials that Bees’ Galazzi had slashed his stick, however, referee Matthews awarded the goal.

Tigers still held a two goal lead but were put on the back foot in the third period when Gabaj scored with a terrific shot. The home side were under pressure but added a fourth goal to ease the nerves through Ross Connolly.

With just 30 seconds of the game left, Stuart Mogg pulled another goal back for Bees.

, shooting between Lawday’s pads to cut Tigers’ lead to one. With so little time left on the clock, Tigers were able to control the puck and see out the game to secure a vital win ahead of the final game of the group stage against Raiders.

Final Score: Hexagon Telford Tigers 4 Bees 3.

Scorers: Ricky Plant, Jason Silverthorn, Andy McKinney and Ross Connolly.

Man of the match: Jason Silverthorn.

Tigers’ head coach Tom Watkins was pleased to come out on the right side of a tough game. He said: “I’m pleased to get the win. We started well but credit to the Bees, they were very resilient and tough to play against.

We took some unnecessary penalties in the offensive zone which is frustrating and it affected our rhythm at times.

I felt we played with more jump in the third period and it was good to see Ross (Connolly) come up with the game winning goal and he has had a solid start to the season.

“It was a very emotional evening for us as before the game we paid tribute to our friend James Lu who passed away earlier this year and is sadly missed by many.”