Leeds Knights captain Kieran Brown's 'pride' after reaching NIHL National play-off final

The Knights’ captain came up trumps on the big occasion, scoring two goals in the 3-2 semi-final win over the Steeldogs, setting up an all-Yorkshire showdown on Sunday against Hull Seahawks at Coventry’s SkyDome Arena.

It promises to be a crackling encounter between the two, who have each won four times in the eight previous meetings with each other during the regular season and play-off group phase.

Brown said preparation had been the key to Saturday’s victory for the Knights, who again were short-benched because of injury and GB call-ups. The 25-year-old felt the previous weekend’s group phase win at Milton Keynes Lightning under similar circumstances had given them the belief they could repeat the performance against Sheffield.

“We just stuck to what we know, what Ryan has taught us and what we have been through all week,” said Brown. “We did a lot of video and we knew it was going to be tough.

“We had seven forwards and we had some under-16s and they did a good little job tonight for us and we stuck to the system and it worked.

“We had a test run last week and it went really well and we knew we had to do exactly the same thing last week.”

Having got in front for the first time through Matt Bissonnette’s 48th-minute goal, Brown sensed the remaining minutes would see a wave of pressure from the Steeldogs, but it was one they were able to get through.

“As soon as we took the lead, I knew they were not going to stop and that they were going to keep pushing and so Ryan was just telling us what to do - we listened and it worked,” added Brown.

“If I can score and help the team win then that is a bonus and so it felt good to get a couple of goals again in Coventry again.

“I’m unbelievably proud of this team. With such a short bench and the injuries that we’ve had, I think we’ve come a long way in these last couple of weeks.”