Guildford Head Coach Paul Dixon hailed Mike Will after the netminder posted a shut-out in Flames’ 3-0 victory at Telford Tigers on Wednesday.

Ben Campbell (2) and Tuomas Santavuori were on target as the Flames made the perfect start to the defence of their EPL play-off title, bu Dixon reserved special praise for his goalie.

“When you play a solid overall team defensive game and get good goaltending, you are going to have success on a lot of nights,” said Dixon.

“In a nutshell, those were our circumstances in getting the win. We were very tight in our end, and we were able to limit the league’s most potent offensive club to just 24 shots, and Mike was right there when they did get an opportunity.

“It was a huge win for us both in terms of play-off success and confidence moving deeper into the round, but at the end of the day it is just one game of six, and there’s a lot more work to be done if we intend to advance to the semi-finals.

“It is important that we reset for Saturday when Sheffield visit, and realise we still have a huge task ahead.”

(Image permission: John Uwins)