Kieran Brown confident Leeds Knights have turned corner as they hone in on NIHL National title repeat show

Head coach Ryan Aldridge admitted his team had hit a lull in the post-festive period, even though they were still grinding out results and remaining the team to catch, the performances were somewhat lacking, as far as the coach was concerned and, it seems, something the players were aware of.

While intensely disappointing at the time, the National Cup defeat by Yorkshire rivals Hull Seahawks - who the Knights edged past 3-1 on Thursday night - may have come at just the right time.

It prompted changes to the coverage of the defensive zone by Aldridge which, almost immediately, seemed to bear fruit.

An edgy 5-4 win was followed by a 1-0 defeat at third-placed Swindon Wildcats immediately following the tactical switch.

But there was plenty for Aldridge to admire in his team’s defeat at The Link Centre and again the following night in the 6-0 win at home to Telford Tigers.

Thrown in two wins against Peterborough Phantoms - a 7-2 win on home ice followed 24 hours later by a 7-0 win in Cambridgeshire - and there was a new positivity about the team, both on the ice and behind the bench.

And while Aldridge expressed some frustration with his team’s performance in their midweek win over Hull, leading points scorer Brown - who scored the game-winning goal - remains upbeat about his team’s prospects for the remainder of the season.

“We have turned a bit of a corner I think,” said Brown. “We spoke about it before the game. Every team goes through it, the ups and the downs and I feel like we were a bit down just after Christmas for a bit.

“But this past couple of weeks, we’ve been really bearing down on everything, listening to Ryan, doing whatever he is telling us to do and it’s been working and it was nice to keep that winning streak going against Hull.

“It was a case of getting the job done on Thursday. We’re just trying to collect points - ultimately we’re going for the title again.

“Hull came out and played very well and we matched that at times - but we’ve got to bring more sometimes.

“There were some points in that game where we needed to bring more. But we got the two points and that’s all that really matters at this point in the season.”

Leeds will look to extend their four-game winning streak when they head to bottom club Bristol Pitbulls tonight before returning home to host Raiders IHC at Elland Road.

Hull will look to bounce back to winning ways at second-placed Milton Keynes Lightning, who are now six games adrift of the leaders Leeds having played a game more.

If Hull can repeat the win they achieved at Milton Keynes at the start of the season, it would obviously do the Knights a massive favour.

It will also be a dress rehearsal for the two-leg National Cup Final between the two in March.

Sheffield Steeldogs will look to recover from last Sunday’s 9-1 home thrashing by Raiders when they host Peterborouugh.