Tales of the unexpected sees Leeds Knights writing their own ending to NIHL National season
MOST people were expecting Leeds Knights’ bid to make it to the NIHL National Final Four Weekend to be far more difficult.
In the end, they got the job done at the first time of asking.
A stunning 6-5 win at Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday night was not necessarily in the script ahead of the game. The Knights clearly decided a rewrite was necessary.
Going into the game with just seven forwards and five D-men thanks to a combination of GB Under-18 international call-ups and injury, head coach Ryan Aldridge drafted in three teenagers to boost the bench numbers.
Forwards Jake Wigginton, Josh Hartley and Evan Bradon, younger brother of Knights’ centre Finley made the trip, but it was the relentless work-rate and commitment of Aldridge’s regulars that got the Knights over the line - effectively playing energy-sapping two-line hockey for 60 minutes.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period was exactly how most observers would have expected it to be.
The Knights 5-2 ahead after the second period? Absolutely not.
Sean Norris and former Knights’ favourite Mac Howlett inflicted the damage in the opening 20 minutes but the Knights had not made it easy for hosts who were looking to salvage a poor 2025-26 campaign by ensuring they could make it through to the semi-finals to try and defend the play-off crown they won so convincingly when beating Peterborough Phantoms 6-1 in last year’s grand finale.
It was just over four minutes into the second period when the narrative really started to shift.
Owen Sobchak pounced to make it a one-goal game and, as the Knights have done so often over the years, another goal was not long in coming, this time captain Kieran Brown delivering the blow just 46 seconds later at 25.28.
After seeing off a Lightning power play brought about by a cross-checking call on Liam Peyton, the Knights stunned their hosts when the Canadian forward then emerged from the box to fire them in front at 32.50.
The hosts had barely recovered when they found themselves two adrift, Bow Neely beating Hedley after good work by Sobchak and Bradon.
Just over a minute later, the Knights went 5-2 ahead when Bradon – the older – fired home.
As expected there was a pushback from the Lightning in the third, but it was all too little, too late for the hosts.
Jordan Cownie scored at 48.00 before a power play helped make it a one-goal game again when Toms Rutkis fired home at 51.50.
But once Endicott restored the two-goal advantage, the game was done. Jarvis Hunt pulled one back for Milton Keynes but, with just four seconds remaining, but it was almost an irrelevance, Leeds already celebrating the most unlikely of victories.
With Edgars Vengis, Jonas Bennett, Daragh Spawforth and Liam Hine not returning from GB Under-18s duty until Sunday, the Knights will need to produce a repeat of what they did on Saturday if they want to make it to the play-off final.