Telford Tigers hit back to reclaim pole position on the road

Tigers bounced back from last Friday night’s defeat at Peterborough Phantoms to beat Raiders 5-3 in Romford on Sunday.

The victory saw them move back into pole position, two points clear of Swindon Wildcats and with a game in hand.

Vladimir Luka led the victory charge with two goals while Jack Hopkins, Bayley Harewood and Andy McKinney also found the net.

But head coach Tom Watkins was quick to praise netminder Brad Day for his part in the victory.

“Brad Day kept us in the game and effectively won it for us,” said Watkins. “He stood on his head at times and made a number of key saves. I think Raiders put us under a lot of pressure and were very difficult to contain on the rush. It was definitely a game we could have lost so to come away with a win is huge.

“This next four weeks is huge for our season with so many games to play. To lose Thomas McKinnon to an injury is a worry.”

Raiders started the game well and almost scored on the opening shift with Dan Scott forcing a save from Day.

Raiders’ Lukas Sladkovsky was then awarded an abuse of an official penalty and Tigers took advantage of the power play and opened the scoring when Scott McKenzie sent a cross ice pass to Luka who dispatched the puck past Ethan James.

. James injured himself in trying to make the save and was unable to continue, being replaced by Michael Gray. Tigers extended their lead with a second goal shortly after when Jack Hopkins cashed in on a defensive mistake. Telford were forced to kill off an extended 5-on-3 power play early in the second period as Jonathan Weaver was called for tripping and Scott McKenzie for high sticking. The penalties were successfully killed off thanks to good work by Day. But with the period entering the final five minutes, Raiders got on the scoresheet. Day made a terrific save from a JJ Pitchley but could not prevent Jake Sylvester from tapping home.

Tigers made it 3-1 through Luka following good play from McKenzie and then had to face an extended 5-on-3 power play after Danny Rose was called for hooking and McKenzie for tripping.

Erik Piatak reduced the deficit but his goal goal spurred Tigers into life and they scored twice in 24 seconds through Harewood and McKinney. A late Aaron Connolly goal gave Raiders hope of a comeback but they could not find a way through the Tigers defence.