Tigers coach Tom Watkins will continue to promote his “play to the end of the game” mantra, after watching Telford seal victory over Hull Pirates with five goals in just four minutes.
The hosts enjoyed a slender 4-3 advantage until the 54th minute at Telford Ice Rink on Sunday evening, when those late strikes gave them a final 8-3 winning scoreline.
It was The Tigers’ second success of the weekend, following Saturday’s 8-4 win at Sheffield Steelodogs, and puts them a point behind fifth-placed Swindon in the EPL table.
Watkins believes his players, who delivered 61 shots on the Hull goal, had the measure of their opponents – even in a tense first few minutes of the third session.
He said: “I definitely think it is important for our guys to play to the end of the game, and it was touch and go for a few minutes in the third period tonight.
“But perhaps our ability at that point showed up a little bit too much for them.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing against the Pirates, however, who defied the run of play to take a shock lead after just four minutes.
Telford had to wait until the 19th minute to equalise, thanks to Jonathan Weaver, before taking the lead through Nathan Salem after the break.
Rick Plant extended the hosts’ advantage on 31 minutes, although Hull again pegged them back at the start of the third period.
Salem’s second goal of the night handed The Tigers a 4-2 cushion on 50 minutes, but they again conceded just moments later.
A manic final ten minutes, however, saw Telford extend their lead, with goals from Jason Silverthorn, Weaver, Max Birbraer and Blaho Novak.
Watkins added: “I think Hull’s netminder kept them in the game for large periods, but that’s no disrespect to the rest of their players. They put in a lot of effort.
“The big danger for us was that when we lost possession, they jumped on it very quickly.
“Generally, though, I think we created a lot of good chances and should have done better in front of the net early in the game.”
Tom Watkins’ men are back in action next weekend, when they travel to Swindon on Saturday, before the visit of Manchester Phoenix to Shropshire on Sunday (6pm).
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