Brown double sends Telford Tigers to victory

Tigers went into their fourth home game of the season on the back of their first loss in regulation time after losing to Romford Raiders the previous evening.

Telford were keen to get back to winning ways after a disappointing defeat in a game they had lead by two goals.

A goalless first period saw both teams have chances but Brad Day in the Tigers’ goal and Hayden Lavigne in the Phantoms’ goal were both in good form.

Tigers finally broke the deadlock in the opening minute of the second period. Eric Henderson and Patrick Brown broke away on the Peterborough goal and Henderson waited for the perfect moment to send a pass across the slot to Brown who hit a first time shot low past Lavigne.

Four minutes later, the lead was doubled when Kyle Ferguson and Tom Byrne combined to send the puck into the slot where Caelan McPhee smashed it over Lavigne’s blocker.

A third goal followed three minutes from the end of the period. Brown and Henderson combined again to allow Brown to smash a fierce wrist shot into the net.

Less than twenty seconds later, a fourth goal was scored. David Thomson shot over the goal and the puck bounced kindly for Scott McKenzie to score on the rebound.

With a commanding lead at the start of the third period, Telford made the worst possible start when, in the opening minute of the period, Luke Ferrara broke away to score for the Phantoms.

Despite the concession of the goal, Tigers did not look like conceding again and defended well for the rest of the game to secure a valuable two points.

Final Score: Autocraft Telford Tigers 4 Peterborough Phantoms 1.

Scorers: Patrick Brown (2), Caelan McPhee and Scott McKenzie.

Man of the match: Patrick Brown.

After the game Head Coach Tom Watkins, commented, “A really solid team effort and all round performance at both ends of the rink. I thought the teams were evenly matched, both teams had 30 shots each but we scored 4 goals unanswered in the second period which was big. It was good to see Brownie (Patrick Brown) light the lamp a couple of times, he’s settled in really well and such an important player for us at both ends of the rink. 

We weathered some pressure late in the second period but other than conceding at the start of the third period, I felt we remained really composed and saw the game out.”