Leeds Knights and Milton Keynes Lightning cancel each other out with Swindon Wildcats ready to pounce
SO, as you were then.
After 120 minutes of fiercely-contested hockey, it should come as no surprise that Leeds Knights and Milton Keynes Lightning emerged from their double-header weekend in the same position as they went into it.
The only thing that has changed is that they each have two more points and less time to determine who will come out on top.
And let’s not forget Swindon Wildcats, of course, who with a double-header against the Lightning this coming weekend, can haul themselves right back into the picture - not that they are anyway, being just four points behind Tim Wallace’s team as they currently are.
While he will have been frustrated at his team not using the momentum gained from coming from two goals down to level on home ice on Sunday night, Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge was keen to accentuate the positives.
He believes Saturday night’s performance in Milton Keynes - which brought a 4-2 win - was the best yet, certainly mentally, from his players, while also acknowledging there was much to admire in Sunday night’s return match in Leeds, which saw them edged out 3-2.
“I felt Saturday was our best performance as a team - mentally, it was the best one of the year,” said Aldridge. “And on Sunday, I felt we played well and were together for most part of the game, although we had some slip-ups.
“But that’s hockey, it’s an emotional sport - we’ve talked about regrouping for next weekend which is a massive weekend for us.”
That “massive weekend” of course, sees the Knights take a break from the league schedule to try and get their hands on the one piece of silverware that has eluded them so far, the NIHL National Cup, with Romford Raiders standing in their way across two legs.
All the focus this week will be geared towards Romford but, on Sunday, while the result may not have gone their way, the Knights played their part in a thrilling clash with the Lightning.
It was the Lightning who struck first when a giveaway on the edge of the Leeds zone found Sean Norris, whose shot was saved by Sam Gospel only for Ross Venus to be on hand to poke home from close range at 4.18.
The Lightning doubled their advantage just 57 seconds into the second period, Norris this time quickest to react to a rebound off Gospel from his initial shot and back-hand the puck home.
The Knights rallied thereafter and were rewarded on the power play when Matt Haywood fired through traffic at 32.01.
The equaliser, when it came in the 49th minute was a sweet piece of play, Jordan Griffin breaking up a Lightning attack to allow Bailey Perre to make a fantastic pass to Kieran Brown from inside the Knights’ zone, the captain taking one stride before quickly firing through Jordan Hedley’s legs before he had time to set himself from 15 yards.
But any momentum the Knights had built was quickly lost when they found themselves on the penalty kill soon after drawing level.
The Lightning made the most of the man advantage when Mack Stewart fired into the roof of the net from close-range after a goalmouth scramble at 50.08 and although Leeds pushed hard for a way back for a second time, there was to be no third goal.