Sheffield Steeldogs 1 Leeds Knights 4 - New boy Jordan Buesa doubles up against old club to fire Knights clear at top

Driving down from Glasgow on the day of a Yorkshire derby clash that brought him up against his former club Sheffield Steeldogs, the 23-year-old forward showed little sign of travel fatigue at Ice Sheffield, scoring twice as the Knights ran out deserved 4-1 winners.

Thrown straight on to a line alongside captain Kieran Brown and import centre Matt Barron, Buesa fitted in seamlessly.

How many more times he will ice in a Knights shirt, though, remains to be seen. That will no doubt be a topic for weekly discussion over the coming months between head coach Ryan Aldridge and his counterpart at Elite League outfit Glasgow Clan, Jason Morgan, where Buesa is signed.

The result saw Aldridge’s team go two points clear of Milton Keynes Lightning, but having played a game more.

After playing three games in four days - and stretching their winning streak to four - they now face a one-game weekend that sees them host Telford Tigers on Sunday (face-off 5.15pm).

The opening half of the first period was a tight, cagey affair - with the Steeldogs keen to snap a two-game losing streak - but the game did eventually open up more before the first break, Brown going closest for the visitors against his former club, while the hosts’ player-coach, Jason Hewitt, clipped the top of Sam Gospel’s crossbar at the other end.

The Knights – backed by a strong away following that had made the short trip down the M1 – started the second period stronger and got their rewards just under a minute in, import defenceman Noah McMullin jumping up into the play to grab his first for the club, allowed time to pick his spot from the left hash marks, firing it over Dmitri Zimozdra’s right shoulder and into the top corner.

The lead was doubled just after the halfway mark by Buesa, scoring from close range, much to the frustration of the team where he played the majority of his hockey during 2022-23, again on a two-way deal with the Clan.

Buesa only joined the Knights on a two-way deal from parent club Glasgow Clan the day before but, as well as his neat finish, gave Aldridge plenty of reasons to see why he should be pleased to have picked up such a quality British player at this stage of the season.

It got worse for a disjointed Steeldogs, who had struggled to get going in the first 40 minutes, Hewitt’s team going 3-0 down after a great move saw Barron drop the puck to Brown who first-timed it to the far post where James Archer was waiting to finish off a sweeping move at 35.02 to complete a trio of players bagging their first goals for the team.

The Steeldogs came out with more jump at the start of the third and it wasn’t long before they deservedly got on the board, Matt Bissonnette finishing from close range to make it 3-1 at 43.59.

Thereafter, the majority of the play remained in the Knights zone, although the visitors worked hard to deny their hosts many clear-cut chances, Gospel pushed hardest when sticking out his left pad to deny Hewitt from close range in the 53rd minute, while most other efforts were comfortably dealt with.

As the game entered the final two minutes, Tate Shudra found himself all alone near the right hash marks only to see his fierce shot cannon off Gospel’s crossbar before, with the Steeldogs having pulled the goalie, Buesa was found by Brown off the left boards sprinting clear down centre ice to fire into the empty net, making his long drive back north of the border all the more enjoyable.