Leeds Knights suffer NIHL National Cup final pain but will benefit in the long run
RYAN ALDRIDGE says his players are “feeling the pain” after their NIHL National Cup final defeat - but is convinced it will only benefit them in the long run.
The Knights played their part in a memorable second leg against Sheffield Steeldogs on Wednesday night, tying up the game on aggregate with just four seconds left on the clock, only to lose out through Bair Gendunov’s winner with just 11 seconds left of overtime to seal a 7-6 aggregate win.
It was harsh on the Knights who had trailed 3-1 from the first leg and it meant that for the second time in five days they had to stand and watch another team lift a trophy they had won last year.
But such experiences will only prove beneficial to the players and the organisation itself, said head coach Aldridge, who said he was proud of his players’ efforts across nearly 125 minutes of hockey against their Yorkshire rivals.
“It hurts - there are a lot of quiet people in that locker room,” said Aldridge at Ice Sheffield shortly after the game had finished.
“We’ve had a good run, this was always going to be a building year and that has shown its worth because the young kids have been unbelievable and for them to be in experiences like this, they can only learn from it
“In the long run, this kind of experience will help them. You’ve got to feel the pain, you can’t keep on winning.
“Given how this year has gone - with injuries and other stuff - to be sitting where we are in the league, to be in a cup final is very impressive.
“Over the last four years, how many big games have we missed as a team? One Cup final and one play-off final I think- so it is pretty special to have done what we have done and we have to take the positive out of that. It’s hard to do that right now, but we have to.”
The Knights got off to the perfect start through Owen Sobchak’s tip-in from Liam Peyton but, try as they might, they weren’t able to completely shake the Steeldogs.
In a case of role reversal it was Peyton who applied the dramatic finishing touch four seconds from the end to send the game into overtime, tipping in from Sobchak from in front.
But as proud and impressed by his team’s late rally at Ice Sheffield as he was, Aldridge said they also made life difficult for themselves on the night.
“I think the goals we gave up were too soft and that put us in a bad spot,” he added. “We had to earn our goals but we gave up some soft ones.
“I don’t think we were good enough in the second period. I don’t think we wanted it enough, they wanted it more than us but to get it back in the end and take that game to overtime, considering the position we were in so late on., how can you not be impressed with that?
“But we’re a young group, a very young group and there were a lot of nerves in that room tonight.
“Obviously that stops you from playing your game, but I thought they did unbelievable to somehow take that game into overtime, just phenomenal.
“Some of the guys really stepped up, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
“Like I said, we’re a young group, the future is bright and they’ve got to understand how this feels, they’ve got to absorb this feeling and know what it feels like for the future.”