Leeds Knights facing stern test of their winning power at Solway Sharks

Going into today’s first part of a double-header weekend against an in-form Solway Sharks, the Knights will be keen to extend their seven-game winning streak.

It says much for the quality of Milton Keynes Lightning, their main league title rivals in NIHL National, that such a run hasn’t catapulted Ryan Aldridge’s team back to the top of the table.

But they are still well-placed ahead of their trip to Dumfries, just one point off the Lightning with two games in hand.

It was the Lightning who were the last team to get the better of Leeds, although they have stuttered slightly elsewhere since, losing three of their subsequent nine games. Crucially for their points tally, two of those losses have come in overtime.

But it is Leeds that are the most relentless team in the second tier right now.

They may have let Sheffield Steeldogs back in from being two goals down in the first leg of their NIHL National Cup semi-final at Elland Road last week - but they will still be many peoples’ favourites to reach the final for the second time in three years when the two teams settle the tie on Tuesday afternoon.

The Knights are at the halfway point exactly of their regular season schedule and, were they to lift a third straight league crown, it would probably rank as the most impressive achievement yet.

It is not an easy task that lies ahead of them this weekend, the Sharks having won four games straight before last Sunday’s 5-2 defeat at Telford Tigers.

Among their more notable scalps are the Lightning, who they beat 4-3 in overtime at the start of the month and Hull Seahawks, who were edged out 3-2 in Dumfries last Saturday, the day before Leeds went to East Yorkshire and returned on the back of a 7-3 victory that left their head coach Matty Davies furious after seeing his team’s hopes of getting into the title race dashed further.

The Knights host the Sharks on Sunday (face-off 5.15pm).