Telford Tigers 2 beat Bradford Bulldogs to reach final

It is the first time Tigers 2 have reached the showpiece for the second division of the National Ice Hockey League’s division two sides.

Tigers came out on top after a double header weekend, travelling to Bradford for the first leg of the two fixtures on Saturday, followed by a fixture on home ice the following day.

Tigers had taken the top spot of the Midlands group table during the qualifying stages, which meant they were playing runners up of the North group table in the semi-finals round. On Saturday, Tigers travelled to Bradford with a few key players missing, but that did not drastically affect the game strategy set out by head coach Scott McKenzie and bench coach Doug Wildman.

Tigers were dominant, completing an 8-2 victory in Yorkshire to bring a six-goal advantage back to Telford Ice Rink.

And Tigers soon put paid to any lingering hopes of the Yorkshire side as they continued their superiority in the second leg.

Filip Supa bagged the first goal of the game on Sunday after a superb Ben Washburn pass.

Supa swept the puck around Bulldog’s netminder Samantha Bolwell and into the net.

The puck dropped for the second period and the hosts set the tone for the period straight away, with Callum Griffin scoring Tigers’ second goal of the game and his second of the weekend.

This was swiftly followed by Tigers’ assistant captain Washburn picking up Tigers’ third within 20 seconds of the game resuming.

The Bulldogs fought back, leading to Tigers picking up unnecessary penalties.

Bradford found themselves with a two-man advantage when Brandon Anderton was penalised two minutes for charging.

Despite the hosts being short-handed, this didn’t stop them from dominating. A quick turnover of the puck allowed Jake Price to breakaway alongside Oli Hunt who then fired the puck into the top left corner of the Bulldogs’ net, taking the Tigers to a four-goal lead on the night.

Still a man down, Tigers fought to maintain control of the game but frustratingly found themselves on a five on three penalty kill with more than five minutes left to play in the period.

The gritty hosts didn’t let their guard down and managed to kill both penalties and reset the game back to their usual pace.

Tigers even managed to extend their lead when clever interplay between Jolly, Mitchell and Deakan Fielder saw the latter managed shoot the puck through Bolwell’s legs and into the back of the net.

Tigers tried to run out the clock in the second period and controlled much of the play, but the Bulldogs managed to capitalise, scoring their first goal with less than three minutes to go in the second period.

The home side kept Bradford from scoring any further goals in the final period and managed to add a sixth with less than three minutes to go until the final buzzer.

Smart defensive work from Supa in the corner and Price on the blueline, left Dan Mitchell to fire the puck over Bolwell’s shoulder and into the top left corner of the net.

Tigers 2 assistant coach Doug Wildman said: “Our home game started at quite a stalemate where we struggled to find our composure to generate our offensive capabilities in the first period.

“But during the second period we came out with some fire in our belly to seal the game up and we looked a different team.

“The team has gone from strength to strength as the season has progressed and we are still improving each week. We now look forward to the opportunity to play in a final with a strong chance of winning some silverware.”

The two-legged final is scheduled to take place in mid-January.