Skoleski stunner wins it for Tigers in overtime

With the season nearing its conclusion, Tigers were in a straight fight with Solway Sharks for the final spot in the end of season playoffs. Tigers had won on Saturday night against Sheffield and that, coupled with Solway’s win at home to Raiders, left the gap between the two sides at three points. Solway still have a game in hand on Telford.

Tigers continued their goalscoring form from the previous night and opened the scoring after six minutes of the first period. Louie Newell sent a pass from the top of the right circle to Eric Henderson who stood unmarked by the side of the Hull goal. Henderson tapped the puck past Dimitri Zimozdra to give the visitors the lead.

Telford doubled the lead six minutes later when Fin Howells scored his fourth goal of the weekend when the puck broke to him after a goalmouth scramble.

Referees Hamilton and Emmerson appeared keen to not call any penalties at all, which seemed to favour Hull who were persistently trying to goad Telford and usual suspect Bobby Chamberlain was guilty of cross checking after the whistle and was lucky to avoid a trip to the penalty box several times.

Hull hit back with a goal from Jamie Chilcott but Tigers scored a third with Henderson showing superb stick handling to freeze Zimozdra then send the puck past him to restore Tigers’ two goal lead.

As the first period was ending, Hull scored again. Chamberlain’s shot was saved but the rebound was tucked home by Jonny Corneil.

At the end of the period the officials had to keep the players apart as Declan Balmer and David Thomson exchanged words.

The second period was similar to the first. Tigers continued to play the better hockey as Hull tried to make it a physical game. Midway through the contest, Tigers had a fourth goal. Henderson and Skoleski broke away and Henderson unselfishly picked out Skoleski who shot over Zimozdra, into the net.

In the final two minutes of the period, Tigers scored a fifth goal. Henderson was once again involved as he picked out Thomson who brilliantly controlled the puck and stick handled in front of goal before beating Zimozdra who could only watch as Thomson sent the puck to his left and into the bottom corner of the goal.

All of Tigers’ bad habits came out during the third period as they gave away the puck too often and looked uneasy in defense. With ten minutes of the game to go and Telford holding a three goal lead and looking comfortable, they gave away an unnecessary penalty when Adam Harding was called for slashing.

Chamberlain scored on the subsequent power play with a shot through Brad Day’s legs and Hull continued to put pressure on the Tigers’ goal which paid off when Emil Svec cut Telford’s lead to one with a wrist shot from distance.

For the final two minutes of the game, Hull pulled Zimozdra from goal and then a further penalty was called against Telford with Harding called for a ridiculously harsh delay of game penalty giving Hull a two man advantage. With just seven seconds of regulation time left, Corneil scored to send the game to overtime.

Overtime started with Tigers maintaining control of the puck throughout and when they broke into the Hull defensive zone, Scott McKenzie set up Skoleski who hit a superb shot from the slot which Zimozdra could only watch go past him as Tigers won the game.

A four point weekend, coupled with Solway’s defeat to Romford, means Tigers now hold a five point lead over the Sharks having played one game more.

Final Score: Hull Seahawks 5 Autocraft Telford Tigers 6 (after Overtime).

Scorers: Eric Henderson (2), Devon Skoleski (2), Fin Howells and David Thomson.

Man of the match: Eric Henderson.

After the game Head Coach Tom Watkins, commented, “What a relief!!! Two points for the win tonight and four points across the weekend at a crucial time of the year. The team dug deep to find a way to win in overtime. We had a lot of good moments / situations and we seemed to be comfortable for most of the game. Hull came back in the third period but we kept our composure. The call on Adam Harding toward the end of the game for delay of game was significant in changing the game and in our view was never a call that should have been made.

"We were guilty of letting them back into the contest after not taking advantage of some great opportunities that could have put the game away in the third period but ultimately we got the job done in overtime.”