Rhys Edwards scored in both games over the weekend (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)
Saturday 1st
November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Telford Tigers 6 – Deeside
D1 Dragons 4
Sunday 2nd November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 7 – Telford Tigers 5
The Deeside Dragons had a mixed weekend in back to back games against Telford
Tigers, losing 6-4 away in Shropshire on Saturday and then winning 7-5 at
Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.
In the away game on Saturday, the Dragons scored first with a goal from
Rhys Edwards after just 2 minutes and then doubled the lead with a Charles Phillips
strike 90 seconds later. The score remained
0-2 at the first period break and things were looking good for Deeside, who went
on to outshoot the Tigers by a considerable margin over the course of the game.
Telford fought back early in the second period, however, and two quick goals
saw them level the score. They went ahead
with a shorthanded goal on 33 minutes but Deeside equalised two minutes later
with a powerplay goal from Jake Witkowski and the game remained at a finely balanced
3-3 at the second interval.
Tensions boiled over early in the third period with a couple of fights that
saw players from both sides in the penalty boxes. The Dragons took advantage of
the ensuing disruption to edge back into the lead again on 48 minutes with a powerplay
goal from Ross Kennedy but a shorthanded goal for the Tigers two minutes after
that left it level pegging with 10 minutes left to play.
Then came the hammer blow of two Telford goals within 60 seconds of each
other that put daylight between the two teams. There were still 6 minutes left to
play but Deeside couldn’t find their way back into the game and it ended up in
a 6-4 victory for the hosts.
The return game on Sunday was very fiercely contested with lots of penalties
being dished out to both sides – some 100 minutes in total over the course of
the game.
Telford had the edge for the first two periods although the score was an
evenly balanced 1-1 at the first period break with a Jake Witkowski goal
levelling an early Telford strike.
Tempers flared as the teams returned to the changing rooms and a fight
in the tunnel saw Deeside’s Will Harper and Telford’s Connor Keys ejected from
the game and two more players from each team sent to the penalty box.
Telford took the lead again on 22 minutes and Deeside equalised again
with a Ross Kennedy goal on 24. Just 20
seconds after that, Telford re-took the lead and then a third goal of the game for
the Tigers highly- rated Czech player Vladimir Luka on 30 minutes saw the visitors
leading 2-4.
Matty Barlow pulled a goal back for the Dragons on 34 minutes and the
score remained 3-4 at the second interval.
Telford restored their two-goal cushion just 40 seconds after the restart
but Deeside visibly upped their game in the third period and clawed their way back
into contention.
A second goal from Barlow on 44 minutes was followed by Witkowski’s second
just 50 seconds later and the Dragons were level again. This time, they were able to push on and
Witkowski’s hat-trick goal on 50 minutes put Deeside ahead for the first time
in the game.
A goal from Rhys Edwards with 2½ minutes to go released the unbearable tension
that had been building up around the rink and Deeside were able to weather some
late Telford pressure and hang on for an important 7-5 win.
After the weekend’s matches, the Dragons remain in third place in the
Moralee Division table with 23 points from their 12 games to date – two points ahead
of Telford, who have three games in hand.
Solihull Barons remain top of the table with 28 points from 10 games – 1
point ahead of Blackburn Hawks, whose unbeaten start to the season came to an
end when the Barons beat them on Saturday.
The Dragons have back to back matches against Blackburn Hawks this
coming weekend.
The away game is in East Lancashire on Saturday 8th November and
the home game at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday 9th November,
5.15pm face off.
The Division 2 Dragons are also at home at the weekend with a game against Kingston Sharks on Saturday, 5.15pm face off.
