Deeside Dragons player-coach Steve Fellows branded Sunday night’s 8-2 loss at home to Telford Tigers as ‘totally unacceptable.’
The Dragons were roundly outplayed by their visitors at Deeside Ice Rink and Fellows pulled no punches in his assessment of the defeat and questioned the mental strength of his side.
Despite having more attempts on goal than the Tigers, Fellows said that his side got what their performance deserved, with the Dragons , who netted through James Parsons and Ross Kennedy, slumping to their third straight defeat in the Laidler Conference.
“The team never followed the plan that was set out for them and we got it all wrong and couldn’t even do the basics,” said Fellows, whose side are without a game this weekend.
“It was so frustrating and disappointing. Once again we had more shots than the opposition but we end up on the losing side. We couldn’t finish our dinner.
“The shots we were taking were poor and weren’t considered. We didn’t want it enough.
“Every time we would take a poor shot they would pick up the puk and head up the other end and score.”
“Some of the players looked like they couldn’t be bothered. That is totally unacceptable and I’m not having that and I let them know that. It’s not on.
“I kept them locked in the changing room for a long while afterwards and told them a few home truths. We had 400/500 people come and pay to watch and we turned in a performance like that. I don’t want that to happen again.”
Fellows gave a debut to attacker Tomas Mitrik, who joined the club last week, and believes he saw glimpses that suggest the Slovakian could play a key role in the remainder of the season.
“I told Tomas what I wanted from him and he did okay,” said Fellows.
“There were glimpses of some good skating and he showed good speed on the ice but he is going to take a little while to get adjusted to how we play and who he plays with.
“I think he will fit in to our system well and hopefully he can start to make an impact soon.”
The Dragons are next in action at Telford on Saturday, February 7 (5.30pm).
