Leeds Knights extend lead at top of NIHL National standings after taming Telford Tigers

A slow start saw the Knights trailing by a goal after 20 minutes but a strong showing in the second period effectively mproved to be where the game was won and lost, with goals from Dylan Hehir, Kieran Brown and Noah McMullin switching the momentum of the game.

As the Tigers chased the game late in the third, Jordan Buesa and Matt Haywood sealed the win ahead of Saturday night’s trip down to bottom-of-the-table Bristol Pitbulls with an empty-net strike apiece.

Coach Ryan Aldridge admitted his players took time to get going and, while it was often not pretty, was left satisfied with another two points in the bag to increase their advantage over title rivals Milton Keynes Lightning.

“The first period wasn’t our best but the boys found a way in the second period to get us going,” said Aldridge, afterwards. “I thought some players had phenomenal nights but other guys weren’t themselves. At this stage of the season though, a win is a win and it was a convincing one in the end.”

The Knights had gone behind inside five minutes from a Finley Howells effort from close in and while they spent most of the rest of the period in the Tigers’ zone, they struggled to create any clear Grade-A chances to seriously trouble Brad Day.

But Hehir’s piledriver from the right circle in the 25th minute proved a pivotal moment, the Knights then able – as they have done on numerous occasions this season – to add more goals in quick succession,

Captain Brown was next to get his name on the board just two minutes later with a precision strike that left Day little chance, before man-of-the-match McMullin fired through traffic to make it 3-1 just after the halfway mark.

The third period was more reminiscent of the first 20 with little to choose between the two sides and it wasn’t until Buesa won a foot race to the puck to slide it home inside the final two minutes that the Knights and their fans could breathe a little more easily, even more so after Haywood found the empty net from inside his own zone with 20 seconds remaining.

The choice of import defenceman McMullin as MVP was one his coach felt was fully deserved, the 25-year-old Canadian increasingly becoming one of the team’s key players with every passing week.

“Off the puck, I thought Noah was unbelievable tonight,” added Aldridge. “He got man of the match and I think he deserved that for one shift alone when he made two massive blocks on (Vladimir) Luka – he’ll probably have some bruises from that.

“He is a very good player. We had a little battle this week in practice, just messing around, and I didn’t realise how strong he is with just one hand on his stick, he was pretty impressive.

“He has come on leaps and bounds. Having that knock at the start of the year took him back a few steps but he’s just been getting better and better every week. He’s very hard to play against and he’s adding to the offence now, too, - he’s turned into a really good player for us.”