The Morley Glass Leeds Knights produced a dominant middle period to secure a hard-earned victory over Basingstoke Bison, overcoming an early setback to take control of the contest and see it out despite late pressure.
It was a tough start for the Knights as 28 seconds in, Jonas Bennett was called for tripping, and Basingstoke capitalised on the resulting power play. At 00:51, Thomas Relf struck with the man advantage, assisted by Brendan Sellan and Max Wright, giving the visitors an early 1–0 lead.
The opening period had a physical edge. At 5:39, Jordan Griffin and William Stead both received five-minute fighting majors after tempers boiled over. Leeds also had to navigate further penalties to Liam Peyton and Edgars Vengis, but they kept the deficit at one heading into the first intermission.
The Knights responded emphatically in the middle frame.
After killing off early pressure and drawing a couple of bench minors from the Bison for too many men, Leeds began to tilt the ice. The equaliser arrived at 30:26, with Matt Bissonnette finishing from Sam Cooper and Owen Sobchak.
Moments later, the Knights took the lead on the powerplay. At 32:30, Liam Peyton found the net with the man advantage, assisted by Balint Pakozdi and Edgars Vengis, making it 2–1.
Leeds weren’t finished there. At 34:32, Bissonnette struck again — his second of the night — once more assisted by Sobchak and Cooper, giving the Knights breathing room at 3–1 heading into the second intermission.
It was a clinical spell from Leeds, who punished Basingstoke’s indiscipline and showed their quality in front of goal.
The third period was far from straightforward. Penalties on both sides disrupted the flow, and Basingstoke were handed a lifeline at 54:01 when Adam Harding scored on the powerplay, assisted by Brendan Sellan and Luke Spadafora, cutting the deficit to 3–2.
Leeds continued to battle, with Sam Gospel standing firm in between the pipes.
Basingstoke pulled their netminder late on and took a timeout at 58:18 to press for an equaliser. The Knights were then forced to kill a late penalty after Daragh Spawforth was called for tripping at 59:12, setting up a tense finale.
However, Leeds held their nerve through the closing seconds to secure the win.
A resilient performance from the Knights, built on a superb second period and strong special teams play. Two goals from Matthew Bissonnette and a powerplay strike from Liam Peyton proved decisive as Leeds claimed another important victory.
Next up at The Castle is a Yorkshire Derby against the Sheffield Steeldogs on Friday 6th March.
