LEEDS KNIGHTS bounced back from the club’s heaviest-ever defeat when an accomplished performance at Romford Raiders brought a welcome 5-1 win.

Canadian forward Cullen McLean led the way with a hat-trick as the Knights went some way to banishing the 8-2 defeat at home to Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday to the past.

Head coach Ryan Aldridge demanded more from his players in the wake of that defeat and will have been pleased with the response he got.

As was the case against the Lightning, the Knights - missing forwards Finn Bradon and Innes Gallacher, along with defencemen Sam Dunn and Jonas Bennett - got off to a good start, but they were able to stay one step ahead of a Romford team who had enjoyed a promising start to their NIHL National campaign with just one defeat in five going into the contest.

McLean got things rolling with a wraparound finish at 4.18 before a shot through traffic from the blue line by Zach Sullivan doubled the visitors’ advantage.

Sam Gospel was kept relatively busy at the other end and despite enjoying greater possession and chances in the second period, the Raiders found themselves hit by a sucker-punch when Kieran Brown found Liam Peyton free down the middle to drive forward and beat Cole Ceci with an early shot over his right shoulder to make it 3-0 at 34.38.

The Raiders offered their fans hope when Andrew Coxhead’s shot through traffic eluded Gospel at 45.31 but the Knights responded well, McLean restoring the three-goal lead six minutes later with a well-worked move involving Matt Bissonnette and Bow Neely.

Raiders threw the dice by pulling Ceci from his net with just under three minutes remaining but, after winning a battle on the boards, McLean fired the puck home into the empty net from just outside the Knights’ zone to complete a hat-trick and seal a much-needed two points for the Knights after the previous night’s setback.