Leeds Knights coach Ryan Aldridge looking for home start against Raiders IHC to give fans just rewards

The Knights remain top of the NIHL National standings – as they have for virtually the entire season – and are yet to be beaten inside 60 minutes.

But they have seen their lead cut to just the one point by Milton Keynes Lightning, one of the two teams to beat them by virtue of an overtime win at home on November 5.

The other loss came on home ice last Saturday when defending champions Telford Tigers prevailed 3-2 after a shoot-out.

Leeds produced head coach Aldridge with the response he was looking for 24 hours later, all their goals in a 5-1 win at Telford coming in the second period.

Aldridge acknowledges he is sometimes hard to please and while losing is acceptable, the way his Knights team came off second-best to Telford on home ice wasn’t, as far as he was concerned.

“I think we owe our fans a big start against Raiders and go out there and prove to them that we can play for 60 minutes,” said Aldridge,

“When we start with a bang it usually sets us up for the rest of the game. I haven’t got a problem with the result against Telford, but I was disappointed with how we played.

“But I got the reaction I wanted on Sunday. Look, this is generally a young team and I think it just gets away from some of our guys some nights that we have to work hard every single night if we want to be successful.”

Raiders’ previous visit to Elland Road in early October saw the Knights prevail 6-3, while the first meeting of the season between the two, in Romford, also brought success in the form of a 6-2 victory.

But Aldridge is aware of the attacking threat posed by Sean Easton’s team, especially that of import forward Matthieu Gomercic, who has 30 points for the season, and former Knights’ forward Harry Gulliver, a summer target of Aldridge’s who has posted six goals and 15 assists.

“Raiders are one of those teams that when they show up, they can beat anyone in this league,” added Aldridge. “Their offence is a lot stronger than it was last year. The new import is doing really well.

“They are a good team who can score lots of goals, so we’ve got to find a way to shut them down while retaining our own offensive threat.

“And Harry (Gulliver) has had the kind of impact I knew he would. It’s no secret that I tried to sign him this summer. In this league, his energy alone brings lots of positives.”