Telford Tigers dished out a 9-0 drubbing to Hull Pirates on Saturday night – and Tom Watkins hailed competition for places as a key factor behind his team’s performance.
The presence of new import Andrei Makrov – alongside Dan Davies’ return from injury – gave head coach Watkins extra options in attack against the Humberside outfit.
And that strategy appeared to pay dividends at Hull Ice Arena, after six different Tigers players troubled the scorers.
Watkins, who must now prepare his side for Sunday’s visit of Milton Keynes, is relishing the chance to work with a bigger squad, as Telford’s injury worries start to ease.
He said: “I think adding the extra player in the week, and having Dan Davies come back, has kept everyone on their toes. It’s created that extra freshness, which can be very important.
“Training has been at a higher tempo all week and we’ve now got a bit more competition for places. Dan is an important part of this team and although he’ll take a while to get back to full match fitness, he creates competition.
“The whole team worked hard tonight, including defence, and Thomas Murdy was excellent for his shut-out.”
The first period saw captain Jason Silverthorn and Macaulay Heywood hand Telford a 2-0 lead, before a stellar second session put the result beyond doubt.
Three goals in just over a minute – thanks to Max Birbraer (2) and Rick Plant – gave The Tigers a commanding 5-0 advantage at the halfway point of the game, while Joe Miller added a sixth just before the interval.
Silverthorn, Miller and Peter Sazbo rounded off the scoring in the final period, giving Telford their biggest win since November’s 9-0 success over Manchester.
Watkins added: “It was a good win, as we got our noses in front, battled hard and had a very good work ethic. But these are the games that we should be winning.
“Andrei is used to a more organised type of hockey in Europe, but he’s finding his feet. He was unlucky with a couple of shots, but worked very hard and is keen to impress.
“He turned over a few pucks and looked dangerous on a couple of one-on-ones, which was good to see.
“But a result like this doesn’t necessarily make it harder to decide on players for tomorrow’s game. All the guys played well tonight, but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t in my plans.”
Sunday night’s game against Milton Keynes Lightning, at Telford Ice Rink, faces off at 6pm.
You must be logged in to post a comment.