Leeds Knights: Oli Endicott says NIHL National play-off heartache can't take shine off 'another great year'

The Knights were denied the chance to go for a treble in Sunday’s final against defending play-off champions Peterborough Phantoms after Dillon Lawrence’s overtime strike sealed a thrilling 5-4 win for the Lightning at Coventry’s SkyDome Arena on Sunday.

It was a cruel blow for the Knights who were desperate to add the play-off crown they won in 2023 to the league and National Cup triumphs from earlier this season and send veteran centre Matt Haywood off on a perfect high.

For Endicott, who posted an assist on Haywood’s second period goal, Saturday’s clash against the team who finished runners-up to them in the league for the third year running deserved to be the final.

“In my opinion, that was the final - two top teams going at it, an unbelievable game,” said Endicott.

“For Brownie to pull it back at the end just shows character from everyone and that’s the type of player he is, a big-game player.

“Emotions are high, they are not going to go out without a fight and OT is just a flip of a coin in that situation, chances at both ends.

“We’ve had a great year, still. This is going to sting and it’s going to hurt. We are losing very important guys on our team - guys who have been massive this year and last year for this team.

“But we’ve had a great year, we’ve won two out of three, you can’t complain about that. I feel we deserve a bit more - but that game there was the top two teams in this league going hard at each other all night.”