How Leeds Knights matured to perfection in order to deliver NIHL National dream double

At times he has spoken of his young team lacking the maturity – or the experience and nous – required to deal successfully with certain game situations, the first leg of the NIHL National Cup final at Peterborough probably being the best example of that.

On other occasions, he has praised his team’s ability to show growing maturity to dig themselves out of difficult situations

But, just a few weeks after their capitulation on the road against the Phantoms, Aldridge saw his team’s mental resolve come to the fore once more, allowing them to deal with all of the difficult questions that were being asked of them throughout both days of a memorable Final Four Weekend in Coventry – one which saw them clinch the league and play-off double.

Compared to most other teams in the second-tier, Leeds were lacking in experience, despite having veterans of the calibre of Matt Haywood and Sam Zajac in their ranks.

There have been various off-ice personal issues and events that have required the team to pull together for each other, a closeness which has often transferred to the ice.

Neither win at the weekend – either the 7-6 victory over Telford Tigers in Saturday’s semi-final or the 5-4 triumph over Raiders IHC in the following day’s final – came easy.

Both games could have gone either way but, according to Aldridge, it is chiefly because of their collective resolve that the Knights were able to pull through.

Some of the roster celebrating on the Coventry ice in front of their raucous fans won’t be returning for a second season. That will disappoint some fans but it is the nature of the sport.

There will, Aldridge insists, be changes. There always has to be, but there is no desire to rip anything up and start again. The core will return, but Aldridge will have another busy summer filling the holes likely to be left.

“They are, as a group, very good, especially now – they are very tight and the play-off weekend just proved that even more,” said Aldridge.

“They stuck together throughout the whole weekend and both games could have gone either way.

“It was an emotional weekend for us all and so we tried to take that away from them as much as we could by turning up to the rink as late as possible before the game and leaving straight afterwards.

“It was the first time there for a lot of guys and that showed. We didn’t really know how to handle the crowd, we didn’t understand the pressure that comes with the Final Four Weekend.

“And so for them to dig through it and find a way to win, not once but twice, was very, very special for me.

“There has been adversity throughout the year and we almost needed a different group of people to come through this weekend and luckily our group was mature enough to deliver that.

“They will only be richer and improve as a result of the things they have gone through this season, including last weekend.”