Spring Cup winning Sheffield Steeldogs coach Greg Wood has admitted the campaign has gone better than expected for them.
With ten wins from ten, they’ll play their penultimate game at Telford Tigers tonight (Wednesday) before rounding off the campaign at home to Swindon Wildcats on Sunday.
And Wood says he’s felt momentum has been with them since winning three of their four games in the Streaming Series back in November.
“When we set out seven weeks ago and looked at this competition, we wanted to put a competitive team on the ice and win as many games as we could so it’s gone pretty well so far,” he said.
“Originally, we had a good core of players for the Streaming Series and we knew we would be strong, but having the 100% record, it’s fair to say it’s gone better than it could have done.
Liam Kirk has been a revelation for Steeldogs in the Spring Cup (PHOTO: Kat Medcroft)
“I feel the momentum has been with us since the Streaming Series. We played in the opening weekend of this competition and had to sit out the following week, but we knew what we had in the dressing room.
“We know we were a solid team, but we also knew there were things to work on so that weekend off early on really helped tidy things up and it’s worked well.”
Steeldogs clinched the trophy on Saturday at Bees, winning 4-1, 24 hours after Telford Tigers suffered a 4-1 loss to the Wildcats. While Telford could have matched them for points, Steeldogs edged it on head to head.
However they put themselves well out of reach with Sunday’s 6-3 win over Raiders and can enjoy their last two games knowing it’s in the bag.
Wood is hopeful of seeing a full season starting in September after the successful organisation and running of the two mini tournaments.
🚨FINAL HOME FIXTURE🚨
We complete our series of home fixtures for the Spring Cup with a midweek Steeldogs meeting 🐯🐶
Streaming tickets are available now 👉🏼https://t.co/E7WH1XbD0v pic.twitter.com/aA2eHnjEhZ
— Telford Tigers (@Telford_Tigers) March 22, 2021
But he revealed what gave Steeldogs that extra bit of focus as they homed in on what’s proved to be a successful campaign.
“Telford losing on Friday was a surprise, but with the games in Swindon, it was always possible Tigers could lose one,” Wood added.
“The first round of games, Telford seemed to put them away quite easily so once we saw that, we pricked up our ears and saw Tigers were a strong side.
“But I think those games between Telford and Swindon helped our guys up their game and led us into that series against Tigers and everyone saw how well we did there.
“Looking ahead, fingers crossed, from my experience in the Streaming Series and the Spring Cup, it’s been brilliant and both have been run safely. There’s been no cases thankfully so we’ve proven it can be done safely.”
