2 weeks Ago By Phil Harrison
Did you know with a Digital subscription to Yorkshire Post, you can get access to all of our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Leeds are guaranteed to finish top of Group A after their 5-1 win in Peterborough and could be joined by Hull after Matty Davie’s team staged a stunning fightback against Telford Tigers before winning 7-6 after a shoot-out. Hull looked to have missed out on making it to the SkyDome Arena for a second year running in the post-season when they trailed Telford 6-3 with less than eight minutes remaining.
Advertisement Advertisement But three goals in as many minutes ensured the game went to overtime and then a shoot-out where Johnny Corneil and Jason Hewitt scored the decisive goals. Hull now need to win Sunday night’s concluding group play-off tie at Telford and hope Peterborough fail to pick up any kind of win at Leeds. If both teams win, Hull need to beat Telford by six clear goals in order to give them a better goal difference than Peterborough.
As it stands, Hull have a -3 goal difference and the Phantoms a +2. Advertisement Advertisement Elsewhere, Sheffield Steeldogs finished their post-season without a win when they went down 4-2 at Milton Keynes Lightning, who will join Group B winners Swindon Wildcats in Coventry. Leeds - who will face the Lightning in the semi-finals - never looked back after getting off to the perfect start at Mallard Road through a Matt Barron strike at 3.
56. Second period goals followed from Bow Neely and Finley Bradon, the young centre then adding a second on the night just 39 seconds into the third to make it 4-0. Luke Ferrara replied for the hosts at 52.
16 but it was quickly cancelled out by Kieran Brown’s power play marker just over two minutes later. Advertisement Advertisement In Hull, an end-to-end game saw the teams tied 3-3 just after the halfway mark, Owen Sobchak doing all the damage with a hat-trick for the Seahawks – who were missing defenceman Dave Phillips – while Devon Skoleski, Eric Henderson and Scott McKenzie were on target for the visitors. Telford - eliminated last weekend - then got ahead through at 38.
12 and piled on the agony for Hull when Thomas Byrne - at 44.18 - and Skoleski with his second at 49.28, made it 6-3.
But Hull were not done yet, Emil Svec replying first at 52.51 before Johnny Corneil made it a one-goal game just 19 seconds later. The equaliser duly arrived from Lee Bonner at 56.
11 and after overtime couldn’t separate the two teams, it was left to Corneil and Hewitt to score the necessary goals past Brad Day to ensure two crucial points. Advertisement Advertisement The Steeldogs came out for the third period in Milton Keynes tied at 2-2 having gone 2-0 ahead through strikes from Jonathan Phillips and Walker Sommer inside the first seven minutes. But Ross Venus and Sean Norris hauled the Lightning level after 40 minutes with Ed Knaggs and Dillon Lawrence beating Daniel Crowe in the third period to book the hosts’ semi-final date with league and cup champions Leeds.
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