Sheffield Steeldogs back to winning ways, Leeds Knights scoring for fun but Hull Seahawks' losing streak extended

A 5-2 home defeat in the first leg of their National Cup semi-final against Leeds Knights on Friday was followed up with a 4-2 loss at Ice Sheffield 24 hours later against title hopefuls Peterborough Phantoms.

After falling 2-0 behind through a Scott McKenzie double, the Steeldogs set about clawing their way back into the game and halved the deficit by the end of the first through Jason Hewitt.

Lee Bonner then levelled after the break before Alex Graham put the visitors ahead at 26.15, only for Brodie Jesson to drag the hosts level at 29.20.

It was nip and tick thereafter and it took a second from Graham at 53.54 to make the difference, the 20-year-old sealing the points with an empty net strike with just 36 seconds remaining.

‘It’s been a tough weekend, a real grind to play three games in three days,” said head coach Wood. “I was pleased to get back to winning ways against Telford – it was another tough game rounding off the weekend where the boys had to dig in and get those two points.

‘With another three-game weekend coming up we have a tough schedule. We are in position where we want to win every game but we will take each game one step at a time and maintain a high performance level.”

After a weekend which saw a return to action of talismanic centre Jason Hewitt for the fist time since early October because of a long injury lay-off, Wood was pleased to see the veteran back out on the ice, particularly when picking up a goal in the first period.

"It’s been fantastic to see Hewitt back playing after such a long lay off,” added Wood. “He’s clicked back in right away and he just makes us a better team. He’s going to improve over the next couple of weeks, with the games coming thick and fast.”

Leeds Knights maintained the pressure on Peterborough and leaders Milton Keynes Lightning with an emphatic 7-1 home win over Swindon Wildcats.

A tight first period last night saw the teams separated by just one goal, Knights’ Sam Zajac striking with just 22 seconds remaining before the buzzer.

The always-dangerous Tomasz Malasinski reminded the hosts of his potency when he levelled matters at 28.43 with his 500th point for the club but, as has happened on numerous occasions this season, the Knights hit back with one hit after another.

Kieran Brown restored the lead just under two minutes later before a brace from Cole Shudra had the home team 4-1 ahead before 35 minutes had passed.

That was how it stayed until there were just over 10 minutes remaining, Zach Brooks making it 5-1 before Matt Haywood added another at 55.22. Carter Hamill rounded off the scoring with his ninth for the season just over two minutes later.

With Milton Keynes Lightning having already replaced the Knights as leaders with the first of a weekend double over Bristol Pitbulls on Saturday – following up that 15-2 thrashing with a 4-1 win on the road – it means the Knights remain in second, just a point further back.

Peterborough Phantoms remain tied to them, however, having followed up Saturday’s 4-2 win at Sheffield Steeldogs with a 6-3 home win over Bees IHC. Both the Lightning and the Phantoms have played three games more than Leeds.

On Saturday, Hull Seahawks saw their losing streak stretch to nine games in a hard-fought 3-1 loss at Swindon.

Trailing to a Malasinski opener at 2.24, Matty Davies’ team – missing forwards Andrej Themar, Finlay Ulrick, Lee Pollitt and James Archer – rallied and were level before the break when Emil Svec scored against his former team at 14.57.

Swindon player-coach Aaron Nell restored the home team’s advantage at 26.18 and as they pushed hard for an equaliser in the third, the Seahawks’ had the stuffing knocked out of them when a second for Nell left them with too much to claw back, leaving them 10 points adrift of the play-off spots with 19 games remaining.