A Season Of Promise Ends in Disappointment

A season of promise ends in disappointment.

An excellent summer of recruitment gave all involved with Tigers NIHL high hopes of a successful season. Newly appointed head coach Daniel Mackriel returned to Telford and along with him came quality and experience from his double winning Blackburn Hawks roster.

Tigers made a stuttering start to the season in the month of September recording only one win, two draws and a defeat at home to the newly promoted Deeside Dragons. Worse was to come as the Tigers failed to record a single point throughout the next two months and an eight game losing streak left the team at the foot of the table.

It wasn't until December that the Tigers displayed what they were capable of as they blew away Whitley Warriors in the first half of a game with a 5-0 score line, before the Warriors infamous walk out. Telford went on win three of their next five games, recording two excellent wins over local rivals Solihull Barons. But the team were still searching for consistency, slipping up at home against Sutton Sting and throwing away leads against Billingham Stars and the Dragons.

The Tigers battled until the end, recording four wins in their last six games, five of which were on the road. It was thought that Telford had done enough to secure their Moralee future, but this season has been a crazy one.

Missing out on a playoff spot by three points and finishing bottom of the table on the same points as the two teams above, although with a better goal difference, obviously hurts. However experience can only make you stronger. Good luck to those teams that have made the playoff weekend and we'll see you all again sometime in the future.

Updated 22:00 - 2 Sep 2019 by Jason Parry