Leeds Knights emerge in credit and ahead of title rivals with another maximum return

That will be the message to Leeds Knights’ players on Monday morning after they brought the curtain down on a frantic 10 days – a spell which saw them clock up 1,384 miles, play just over 362 minutes of hockey, score 31 goals and, perhaps most importantly in terms of their NIHL National regular season title chances, concede just 13, emerging with nine points from a possible 12.

It has been tough at times - the two one-goal derby losses to Sheffield Steeldogs spring to mind - but they have come out the other side of it still ahead of the chasing pack. But only just.

That ‘pack’ may now be just the one team in the shape of Milton Keynes Lightning who, like the Knights, postsed a four-point weekend courtesy of an emphatic 11-2 home win over the Steeldogs and a hard-fought 5-4 triumph at third-placed Peterborough