Leeds Knights: Kieran Brown breaks 100-point barrier as Knights post perfect NIHL National weekend return

Kieran Brown broke through the 100-point barrier for the season when posting 2+2 in Leeds Knights' 7-3 win over Raiders on Saturday. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

A comprehensive 7-3 win over Raiders IHC on Saturday night on home ice was followed by an equally-impressive performance on the road 24 hours later when Ryan Aldridge’s team came away from Peterborough Phantoms with both points in a 3-1 triumph.

It marked a second successive win over Slava Koulkiov’s side for the Knights, having beaten them after a shootout on home ice the previous weekend.

That victory was followed by a 5-1 defeat at Elland Road to Basingstoke Bison, but the Knights responded to that in positive fashion in their third straight home game on Saturday against a Raiders team who had lost five of their previous six games.

An Adam Barnes double helped Leeds Knights record an impressive 3-1 win at Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday night.

The Romford-based visitors had arrived in West Yorkshire having beaten Bees 5-2 the previous Sunday but there was little prospect of that being repeated after they found themselves 3-0 down at the end of the first period.

Lewis Baldwin got the ball rolling at 3.43, Brown’s landmark moment coming at 18.02 when setting up Adam Barnes to make it 2-0.

Cole Shudra extended the lead with 10 seconds remaining and although Aaron Connolly reduced the deficit with a shorthanded marker at 26.05 the Knights were 5-1 to the good after 40 minutes through a Matty Davies double.

Two goals in three minutes from Jake Sylvester gave the Raiders hopes of an unlikely comeback, but those aspirations were quickly dashed when Brown responded within a minute of Sylvester’s second goal to restore the hosts’ three-goal lead, then 20-year-old making it a memorable four-point night with his second of the game at 55.24.

On Sunday, it was a double from Brown’s former Bradford Bulldogs’ team-mate Barnes which proved key to the Knights’ success.

Barnes opened the scoring at 21.21 but the teams entered the final 20 level after a 29th-minute reply from Glenn Billing.

The crucial go-ahead goal came in the 51st minute, however, Barnes doubling his tally before Shudra made sure of the win with an empty-net marker with just 40 seconds remaining.