Hull Seahawks 4 Leeds Knights 3 - Little to choose between Yorkshire rivals after pulsating Cup semi-final opener

After the first instalment of this keenly-contested NIHL National Cup semi-final between Hull Seahawks and Leeds Knights, there was little to choose between the two sides.

The Seahawks will carry a 4-3 lead into Leeds’ Elland Road Ice Arena on Friday night and, on the balance of play, it was just about deserved.

But when the Yorkshire rivals step out on the ice for the second leg, anything will be possible. This is one of those ties that is literally too close to call.

Kieran Brown broke the deadlock inside four minutes when a move started by Bailey Perre worked its way through Matt Barron and Mac Howlett before the Knights captain one-timed it past Jordan McLaughlin at 3.06.

It wasn’t long before Hull were level, though, just over five more minutes having elapsed when Nathan Salem was quickest to react to a rebound in front of the net to slot home past Sam Gospel.

Just under two minutes later, the visitors got their noses in front again, Noah McMullin rifling one through traffic with Howlett reacting quickly to jam the puck home at 10.55.

But the teams were to go in level when Emil Svec beat Gospel low down with just 12 seconds of the period remaining.

The Knights thought they’d got themselves ahead for a third time when Brown forced the puck home from close range after McLaughlin had spilled his initial speculative effort and then saved Howlett’s follow-up.

But the officials ruled that the net had come off its moorings before the puck crossed the line.

It was to prove decisive as, just minutes later, the Seahawks got themselves ahead for the first time in the tie, Owen Bruton forcing the puck home from close range to make it 3-2 to the hosts with 33.16.

It looked like that was how the teams would go in at the second intermission, but there was a sting in the tail when Svec grabbed his second of the night when beating Gospel with just 68 seconds of the period remaining.

Hull continued their superiority in the early part of the third period, Lee Bonner going closest to making it a three-goal lead only to be denied by Gospel at his near post after he had evaded Lewis Baldwin and cut in from the right-hand corner.

But the Seahawks then ran into a bit of penalty trouble in the 49th minute, first Sam Towner going into the box for tripping before quickly being followed by Declan Balmer for delay of game.

But despite being handed almost two minutes of 5-on-3 power play, the Knights actually came close to going further behind when Finlay Ulrick broke down centre ice only to see his fierce shot cannon off Gospel’s left-hand post after it had beaten the Leeds goaltender for power.

Eventually, Leeds made their superiority in numbers count, but it was a greasy goal, Howlett jamming the puck home at 50.08 from the edge of the crease after Brown’s initial shot rebounded.