Coach Watkins joined Tigers from Coventry Blaze

Coach Tom Watkins has praised his Telford Tigers players after they lost 5-4 in overtime to English Premier League leaders Manchester Phoenix.

"The guys showed real grit to come back from two goals down and take it to penalties," said Watkins.

Goals from Andy McKinney, Watkins, Marek Hornak and Scott McKenzie made it 4-4 to earn Tigers a bonus point.

The sides were evenly matched in the sudden-death overtime, but Manchester shaded it in the penalty shoot-out.

"They had a lot of shots on us, but we rode our luck and took our chances at the other end of the ice," Watkins told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I think we played with more smarts and our defence was solid. The guys fully deserved to take a point from a top team."

The result was a superb boost for Tigers after going down 11-6 at home to Peterborough 24 hours earlier.

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