IT may have been one of the most painful nights in the short history of Leeds Knights, but losing in the NIHL National Cup Final to Peterborough Phantoms two years ago will only have helped the development of the team’s younger players, says Matt Haywood.

Trailing 6-0 following a dreadful first leg in Peterborough, the Knights almost pulled off a miraculous comeback when they got back to within one goal once back on home ice at Elland Road Ice Arena.

Leeds Knights goalie Sam Gospel outlines National Cup Final threat posed by Romf...

Peterborough finally put the game beyond the reach of the Knights when they scored a late empty-net goal with just a few seconds remaining, but veteran centre Haywood believes that defeat was a valuable lesson for the team and the organisation as a whole.

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He applies the same logic to the current season, one which has seen the two-time champions already lose more games than in both their league title-winning years - and there are still 12 games to go.

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Haywood believes the team will only benefit from the harsh lessons learned back in 2023 and this season when they contest this weekend’s two-leg NIHL National Cup final against Romford Raiders.

“Expectation-wise, it’s quite hard because people are maybe used to winning these past two years and it could be viewed as us not having as good a season,” said Haywood.

“But I also think that we’ve got to give credit to other teams. It’s just not normal to go and win 90-95 per cent of your games in a season, that’s not hockey and I don’t want the young boys thinking that is hockey.

“So it’s actually a good thing for character-development and for all the young lads moving forward, it’s about how you deal with getting beat because, no matter how good your team is and how well you play, you’re going to lose.”

On the heartache of losing in the final two years ago, Haywood added: “As an organisation as a whole, I think we learned a lot from that first leg in Peterborough.

Leeds Knights' Matt Haywood congratulates the Peterborough Phantoms players on their victory in the NIHL National Cup Final two years ago. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

“We were very, very close to bringing that back, it was two crazy nights of hockey, to be honest.

“But it’s good to learn from these things, as a player and as a team.

“It would be great to complete the set and win it, but hockey doesn’t always work out like that.

“We’re going to go in there with all the respect towards Romford because they are a good hockey club and have a very good team.

“We certainly won’t be taking anything for granted.”

Leeds Knights v Romford Raiders: Matt Haywood on Knights learning harsh but valuable lessons from defeat