Tigers' late display does the trick against Pirates

Tigers coach Tom Watkins will demand better starts from his men, following another late show in their 6-2 win over Hull Pirates on Wednesday night.

Photo credit Steve Brodie

The EPL leaders fell behind early on at Telford Ice Rink and it wasn’t until the third period that they scored their final four goals.

And despite seeing them open a ten-point a second-placed Milton Keynes, Watkins believes his players need to show their dominance earlier on in games.

He said: “We were okay energy wise early on, but we struggled with the puck on our stick and made a lot of uncharacteristic giveaways.

“I thought we settled down a bit in the second period and were the stronger team, but we still managed to give a couple of sloppy opportunities away.

“The third period, like the last few games, was strong for us, but we have got to come out of the blocks harder and be ready to play.”

Wednesday night’s game saw Telford fall behind after just two minutes, thanks to a Pirates goal from Andrej Themar.

The Tigers, however, hit back just two minutes later with a strike from Doug Clarkson.

In a relatively quiet second session, the hosts took control of proceedings and were rewarded with their second goal of the night, scored by Lubomir Korhon, on 26 minutes.

But Hull hit back at the end of the period with a well-timed goal from close range by Nathan Salem.

The third period saw a much-improved performance from the Tigers, with a second goal from Clarkson on 41 minutes.

Photo credit Steve Brodie

Jason Silverthorn followed that up with a goal just moments later, then another on 48 minutes.

And it was Korhon who rounded off the scoring for Telford with three minutes remaining.

Telford have just one game this weekend, when they travel to face Guildford Flames on Saturday, and Watkins is wary of the threat posed by the Surrey men.

He added: “It is a big two points in Guildford on Saturday and we have to go down there and play smart. It is a tough place to play.

“We have got a lot to play for, so there’s no reason for us to be having these bad starts.