Leeds Knights coach Ryan Aldridge on perfect weekend and Harrison Walker

A gritty, hard-fought 2-1 win at Swindon Wildcats on Friday night was followed by a home and away double over Yorkshire rivals, Hull Seahawks.

To make the weekend taste even sweeter, nearest rivals Milton Keynes Lightning dropped a point in a 5-4 shoot-out defeat at play-off chasing Bees IHC.

All in all, it leaves the Knights 11 points clear with just the six games remaining of the Lightning.

They head into Saturday’s trip to Buckinghamshire knowing a point will be enough for them to be crowned champions for a second year running.

“I would have been happy taking four points out of that weekend,” said Aldridge after three draining days for his players, who extended their winning streak to 11 games with Sunday’s 5-2 win in Hull.

“But to come out of that with six points is unbelievable.”

Aldridge pointed to the standout performances of back-up netminder Harrison Walker as being pivotal to his team’s success across three nights.

“He was phenomenal,” added Aldridge. “I think it is massive for him, massive for the team and massive for me.

“He’s come in and proved this weekend by a mile that he can play at this level. We’ve seen him in a high-pressure situation and we couldn’t have asked anymore from him.

“And when you look at the teams that we played on those three nights - we struggle in Swindon, we struggle against Hull in both rinks - and he stepped in and gave us confidence and some fantastic performances.”