Tigers NIHL chief Jason Parry insists his young side are still defying expectations in the Moralee Conference, despite watching them lose 7-4 to local rivals Solihull Barons.
Defeat at Telford Ice Rink on Saturday night put a hefty dampener on Parry’s hopes of reaching the end-of-season play-offs, with results elsewhere now crucial for the Tigers.
Victory over Billingham Stars on Sunday evening night would be a useful fillip in that play-off chase, but Parry remains proud of Telford’s efforts so far this season.
He said: “If you looked at all the blogs and opinions at the start of the year, everyone had written us off as being certainties to finish in the bottom two.
“But after the first few months of the season, we could have been challenging right in the mix. We’ve had a terrible 2016 so far, but if we had picked up just four more points after Christmas, we would have been up there.
“We struggled with bad luck and decisions, but putting it into perspective, this is what we’re here for. Today, there’s players gone off to play for the EPL side and fair play to them. That’s the level we’re trying to get them to.
“The role here is to be there to help out the EPL team. They’ve had a lot of injuries, which has given kids opportunities and some of them have grasped that.
“This league is very competitive from second bottom upwards, and if you look at where people thought we would be, I’m happy with where we are.”
Solihull were 4-0 up after just 13 minutes on Saturday, before James Smith scored Telford’s first goal with two minutes of the first period remaining.
Smith doubled his tally just before the interval, while Karol Jets closed the deficit to one goal at the start of the second session.
A quieter period saw the Barons regain their two-goal cushion on 29 minutes, before two further goals after the break virtually secured victory.
Josh Hustwick pulled a goal back with three minutes of the game remaining, but it wasn’t enough to inspire a belated comeback from the Shropshire men.
Parry added: “I don’t want to dwell on the game too much, but if you give a team like Solihull a four-goal head start, then it’s always going to be a struggle.
“We definitely battled our way back into the game, which was good to see, and with a few more bounces our way we could have maybe tied it up.”
The Tigers NIHL make the trip to face Billingham Stars on Teeside tomorrow night. Face-off off in that game is 6.30pm
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