Hull Seahawks, Leeds Knights and Sheffield Steeldogs - NIHL National Sunday Review

MATTY DAVIES declared his pride in his Hull Seahawks players after they pulled off a stunning win against title-chasing Milton Keynes Lightning.
Phil Harrison
By Phil Harrison
Published 15th Jan 2024, 19:37 BST

The 6-4 home triumph made it a four-point weekend for the Seahawks after their 6-5 road win at Raiders the previous evening and will have done Yorkshire rivals Leeds Knights a huge favour in terms of the title race.

The Knights made hard work of a 7-5 win over bottom club Bristol Pitbulls, a result which, combined with Hull’s win, saw them go three points clear of the Lightning at the top with a game in hand and 23 games remaining.

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Owen Bruton, captain Sam Towner and Thomas Stubley had the hosts 3-1 up inside 20 minutes at Hull Ice Arena, with Jordan Fisher’s second-period strike being followed by efforts from Bobby Chamberlain and Emil Svec in the third.

ON TARGET: Emil Svec scored Hull's sixth goal against Milton Keynes. Picture: Adam Everitt/Seahawks Media.ON TARGET: Emil Svec scored Hull's sixth goal against Milton Keynes. Picture: Adam Everitt/Seahawks Media.
ON TARGET: Emil Svec scored Hull's sixth goal against Milton Keynes. Picture: Adam Everitt/Seahawks Media.

“I know what group I have in the room and I know what they are made of,” said Davies, who was without key forwards Bobby Young and Nathan Salem. “They were unreal and I’m so proud of them after that performance.

“It had been a tough week, not just because of last weekend’s losses but we had a lot of illness in the group during the week. It’s just tough times but you go through those kind of moments in seasons.

“It had been a couple of weeks of not really playing our game, but I always knew we’d rebound.”

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Two goals apiece for Kieran Brown and Matt Haywood led the way for Leeds at Elland Road – on a night when back-up netminder Harrison Walker got his first start of the campaign.

DOUBLE TOP: Matt Haywood (left) and Kieran Brown scored two goals each in Leeds' 7-5 win over Bristol. Picture: Stephen Cunningham/Knights Media.DOUBLE TOP: Matt Haywood (left) and Kieran Brown scored two goals each in Leeds' 7-5 win over Bristol. Picture: Stephen Cunningham/Knights Media.
DOUBLE TOP: Matt Haywood (left) and Kieran Brown scored two goals each in Leeds' 7-5 win over Bristol. Picture: Stephen Cunningham/Knights Media.

Two-way 19-year-old forward Innes Gallacher continued to impress when he got the ball rolling in the fifth minute with his first goal at ‘The Castle’ before the Haywood and Brown goal-scoring double act kicked into life to give the hosts a 5-2 lead at the end of the second.

Bristol, to their credit kept in touch, though, until the third when Noah McMullin and then Jordan Buesa – with a shorthanded effort – made it 7-3 with just under five minutes remaining. The Pitbulls pulled back two late goals through Mason Lipsey and Edgars Landsbergs.

Sheffield Steeldogs’ play-off hopes suffered another blow when they followed up Saturday night’s 7-1 home loss at the hands of Peterborough Phantoms with a 7-0 defeat on the road at Telford Tigers.

Their seventh straight defeat leaves them five points adrift of Raiders – the team currently in the eighth and final play-off spot.

Related topics:Leeds KnightsRaidersLightning