Hexagon Telford Tigers travelled up to Sheffield to take on the Steeldogs on Sunday night looking to bounce back from their first defeat in 8 games.
Tigers’ winning streak ended with an overtime loss against Bracknell Bees and the team also lost a number of key players in the defeat. Joining Jason Silverthorn, Ollie Lord and Jonathan Weaver on the sidelines were Ricky Plant and Andy McKinney, giving a short benched team an uphill task in a difficult rink to play in. Things got worse before the game had started when Joe Aston was injured in the warm up and was unable to take part.
The first chance of the game fell to Tigers with Dan Mitchell skating in on goal but Dimitri Zimozdra in the Sheffield goal managed to block the puck and clear it before Tigers could score. Shortly after, Tigers’ luck deserted them. Sheffield’s Alex Graham sent a puck at the Tigers’ goal which Brad Day stopped but the puck managed to sneak through him and sat in the goal crease. Sheffield’s Kieron Brown was skating past the net and reacted first by tapping the puck over the line to give the Steeldogs a 2nd minute lead. Tigers reacted to the setback by drawing level within a minute. Danny Rose shot from the blue line and Scott McKenzie tipped the puck away from Zimozdra and into the net to tie the game at 1-1. In the 8th minute, Tigers were given a glorious chance to take control of the game with an extended 5-on-3 power play after Ashley Calvert and Tim Smith were given penalties. Tigers set up the power play well with McKenzie passing to Dominik Florian who sent the puck to Ross Kennedy to blast the puck into the corner of the net to give the Shropshire side the lead.
Sheffield started the 2nd period strongly and had a great chance in the first minute when Nathan Salam shot wide of the Tigers’ goal when well placed. Corey Goodison then made a last gasp block after the puck had beaten Day and a Sheffield shot was hammered at the goal. That was closely followed by Danny Rose saving a certain goal with a clearance from his own crease after the puck had gone past Day but not into the goal. Tigers’ Brandon Whistle then hit the post from a tight angle.
Tigers extended their lead in the 31st minute with a well worked goal. Florian and McKenzie combined to give Goodison a shot from the blue line which the Tigers’ defender hammered past Zimozdra to make it 3-1.
Shortly after though, disaster struck for Tigers. Sheffield scored their 2nd goal of the game with an unlucky deflection from a Tigers’ stick which looped Brown’s shot over Day into the net. This was closely followed by a penalty to Dan Mitchell for illegal equipment after he had been caught with a late hit from a Sheffield player which resulted in his stick being broken after impact with the ice. Mitchell continued to play with the stick resulting in a penalty with the officials missing the initial late hit. This proved crucial as Brown completed his hat trick on the subsequent power play to level the game at 3-3.
The officials gave the Tigers’ fans more cause for complaint after McKenzie was knocked down behind the Sheffield net but no penalty was called, despite the clear infraction. The period ended with the teams tied and Tigers with further injury problems as Adam Taylor limped away to the visitor’s dressing room.
The 3rd period almost started badly for Tigers as Brown hit a shot off the post which deflected onto Day and slid back towards the goal line. Tigers were able to clear the puck with referee Hands perfectly placed to see the puck had not entirely crossed the line. The reprieve was even more important when Whistle scored a superb goal to give Tigers the lead. Whistle skated into the Sheffield defensive zone, beat 2 defenders, skated in on Zimozdra’s goal and slid a perfect shot past the Sheffield net minder to put Tigers ahead 4-3.
As the game entered the final 5 minutes, Sheffield’s James Spurr caught Tigers’ Thomas McKinnon with a late hit presenting Tigers with a chance to increase their lead on the power play. A scramble in front of the goal led to Fin Howells scoring from close range to give Tigers a 5-3 lead.
For the final minute of the game Sheffield pulled Zimozdra from the goal to give themselves an extra attacker, with a face off in the Tigers’ defensive zone. Scott McKenzie won the face off for Tigers, cleared the puck the length of the ice, allowing Florian to get to the puck first and pull the puck back for Whistle to score into the empty net for Tigers’ sixth goal and seal a remarkable victory.
Final Score: Sheffield Steeldogs 3 Hexagon Telford Tigers 6
Scorers: Ross Kennedy, Scott McKenzie, Corey Goodison, Brandon Whistle (2) and Fin Howells.
Man of the match: Scott McKenzie.
After the game Tigers’ Head Coach, Tom Watkins commented, “I’m so pleased for the boys tonight as it was a huge win and we really showed a lot of desire this evening. The guys really turned up, (the healthy ones) competed hard and played with a lot of heart for 60 minutes. With so many players missing, to come to Sheffield and take the points is a great achievement. With 6 guys not dressing and then to effectively lose Adam Taylor for over a period we were seriously short staffed. We played to our systems and I think we were good defensively which gave us an opportunity to capitalise on our chances. That’s as big a win as we will have all season and the buzz amongst the boys tonight is excellent. It’s great to be able pull together when you’re up against it.”
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