Leeds Knights: Matt Haywood happy to embrace pressure of NIHL National title push

To be honest, though, it wasn’t that noticeable.

In a season of many highs, one of the big pluses for the Knights has been the addition of Haywood.

What the team lost in terms of experience and nous with the exit of centre Matty Davies - returning to Hull to head a new franchise in his hometown - they gained in Haywood.

His departure from Glasgow Clan after 12 years so may have left a slightly sour taste in the mouth of the 32-year-old centre but he was quick - thanks in part to former Clan team-mate and Knights’ veteran defenceman Sam Zajac - to find a new home.

Put simply, he is loving it.

“It’s great here, it is nice to have more of a leadership role and be trusted with more ice time and being in different situations on the ice, which wasn’t necessarily the case in Glasgow,” said Haywood.

“So it’s good to have that extra expectation placed on me and, hopefully, I’m helping guide all the younger boys in the right direction.”

Haywood – fourth in the Knights’ scoring with 65 points, including 21 goals, in 34 games – was aware he would be coming into a young team being put together by head coach Ryan Aldridge, it was part of the appeal.

He was confident they would be competitive this year and, heading into the final two months or so of the campaign, they are still in with a shout of silverware on three fronts. Now, it is about seeing the job through.

“I’ve been really very impressed with the younger guys,” added Haywood. “They are obviously very fast and skilled but they are all such smart hockey players, too, and that’s something you don’t normally see a lot.

“I feel like everybody in our team has got ‘it’ and I give credit to Ryan for that as he’s obviously coaching them really well and they are really responsive to anything he asks them to do - everyone is more than willing to buy in and do it. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Last weekend was near-perfect for the Knights, starting off by confirming their place in the NIHL National Cup final at the expense of Sheffield Steeldogs and then followed by the kind of four-point weekend that the Knights have put together so many times already this season.

Crucially, one of the two league wins came against regular season title rivals Milton Keynes Lightning.

Combined with a comprehensive 8-4 win at defending champions Telford Tigers on Sunday, it left the Knights back at the top of the standings, by one point, with two games in hand.

With 20 games left, the Knights are in the boxseat - as they have been most of the season - but the fact Milton Keynes and Peterborough Phantoms in third place are still hot on their tails is welcomed by Haywood.

“I believe it’s been good for us to have that competition and it shows how good this league is and that you can’t afford to take a night off,” said Haywood.

“Obviously, at the start, Ryan made it well known that this season was going to be a building year, building towards something for next season, maybe, but I think we’ve stumbled across something great.

“Some of the older guys like Sammy Zajac and Sammy Gospel and myself have been saying that we can’t let anything slip because you don’t often find yourselves in these positions and so it’s kind of good to embrace it and not have any pressure.”