Autocraft Telford Tigers played their only game of the weekend on Sunday against title chasing Milton Keynes.
Tigers were in a strong position in their chase for a play off place as they held a 4 point lead over rivals Solway at start of play after the Sharks had won the previous evening against Sheffield. Tigers knew that a win against Lightning and a Solway defeat to Leeds would be enough to gain a play off spot. Otherwise, it would go to the final weekend of the regular season.
The visitors were chasing points at the other end of the table and had lost a key game on Saturday against Leeds which left the Knights top of the league by four points with three games left to play. Lightning knew that they had to win against Telford and hope that Leeds lost to Solway to keep their title challenge alive.
Tigers spent much of the opening two minutes of the game on the offensive but as soon as Milton Keynes made their first attack of the night they took the lead. Corey McEwan scrambled the puck home from close range.
A minute later the visitors were two goals ahead when Dillon Lawrence hit a shot from the slot that beat Brad Day easily.
Tigers’ first power play chance saw them cut the lead in half. A terrific behind the back pass from Eric Henderson gave Devon Skoleski the chance to shoot past Jordan Hedley in the Lightning goal.
Lightning restored their two goal lead late in the first period with a goal from Sean Norris.
In the opening minute of the second period, Tigers pulled a goal back with their second power play of the game. Scott McKenzie was on hand to score off his own rebound to record his 350th goal for the club.
Milton Keynes were more clinical than Telford and Lawrence added his second and third goals of the game in quick succession to put the visitors firmly in control of the game. Tigers then had a third power play but ended up conceding a short handed goal when Brad Day came out of goal to play the puck and sent an errant pass straight to Mack Stewart who shot into the empty net for Milton Keynes’ sixth goal.
Tigers scored when Fin Howells and Harry Ferguson led a 2-on-1 breakaway. Howell’s passed to Ferguson who shot through Hedley’s legs for Tigers’ third goal.
Six minutes into the third period James Smith gave Telford fans hope of a comeback when he scored from close range with a shot into the top corner of the Lightning goal.
But once again Milton Keynes hit straight back with a goal from Ross Venus. Lawrence then scored his fourth of the night after skating through a static Tigers’ defence and scoring with ease.
David Thomson scored a consolation goal for the hosts but Lightning had the final say on the scoreboard with a long range shot from Patrik Forsberg.
Tigers’ fans were relieved to see that Solway had lost to Leeds – a victory that sealed the title for the Yorkshire team for the third season running. Solway and Telford now go into the final weekend of the season still unsure of who will gain the final spot in the end of season play offs.
Telford have a four point lead over their rivals but face a tough visit to Swindon on Saturday before a potential winner takes all game against Solway on Sunday night in Telford.
Final Score: Autocraft Telford Tigers 5 Milton Keynes Lightning 9.
Scorers: David Thomson, Devon Skoleski, Scott McKenzie, James Smith and Harry Ferguson.
Man of the match: Tom Byrne.
After the game Head Coach Tom Watkins, commented, “I thought we got a bad start against a team stacked with plenty of threats and we played well enough in certain areas but every time we grabbed a little momentum we made an error, turning a puck over or missing an assignment in our defensive zone which led to us giving up 9 goals on 35 shots which was frustrating.
“We move our focus quickly to next weekend’s games and look to have a good week of preparation ahead of two big games next week.”
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