How road win in Milton Keynes set NIHL National play-off tone for Leeds Knights
RYAN ALDRIDGE believes the seeds were sown for Leeds Knights NIHL National play-off triumph after their group phase win at Milton Keynes last weekend.
Through injuries and call-ups for the GB Under-18s team for their Division 2A World Championship campaign in Romania, the Knights headed to Milton Keynes with the bare minimum in terms of bodies.
Boasting just seven forwards and five defencemen, Aldridge bolstered his ranks with three teenage debutants.
But young forwards Evan Bradon, Josh Hartley and Jake Wigginton never touched the ice as Aldridge put his faith in his diminished roster to get the job done.
And they did, coming from 2-0 down to enjoy a stunning 6-5 win and book their place at the Final Four Weekend in Coventry.
Once there, they believed anything was possible and, after beating Sheffield Steeldogs 3-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday, Leeds again came from behind inside the last five minutes of the final to defeat Hull Seahawks in Sunday’s final.
It was a stunning achievement and maintained the Knights’ record of winning silverware every season since Aldridge took charge on a permanent basis in the summer of 2022.
“We just found a way and Milton Keynes, probably, last week,” said Aldridge. “And, you know, you look back at games and Milton Keynes last week might have won this trophy for us, by giving us the confidence to go on and do it in Coventry.
“I watched the game back against Sheffield and we were actually way better than I thought we were on the night.
“We’ve obviously had some guys missing, so we’ve been trapping a lot lately which isn’t what I really like to do, but we’ve had to do it and we just managed to squeak it out.”
Sunday’s triumph at the SkyDome Arena brought Aldridge’s trophy haul to six in four-and-a-half seasons since he took over on an interim basis from Dave Whistle in January 2022.
His position was made permanent soon after the end of the Knights’ inaugural season concluded three months later.
When considering all the silverware won during such a short time, Aldridge admitted Sunday’s success in Coventry was his favourite.
“I think that is only two finals now in four years that we’ve not been involved in,” he added. “So that is pretty special, but tonight’s trophy is definitely the best one.”