Post-match interviews with rival coaches Ryan Aldridge and Ben Morgan following the conclusion of the NIHL National Cup semi-final clash between Leeds Knights and Sheffield Steeldogs
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00:005, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:30We looked tired from lots of parts of that game. I thought Gozi was unbelievable from
00:40start to finish. I don't think it was us, but I think we did enough to get through.
00:45Was it a slow start as well? Yeah, we always came off moaning about the
00:49ice conditions and stuff like that, but we didn't have our normal start. In these big
00:56games we get caught a little bit flat-footed and I think the event drains us. I'm positive
01:02that's how we got through. Cup final. You were there two years ago, as
01:06you'll probably be reminded in the lead-up to the game, but this is all one trophy you
01:10haven't got yet as a team. How much would it mean now you're through to that showpiece
01:16occasion again to actually get over the line? We went to the semi-final last year, two finals
01:20before that, three finals in four years. It's obviously not bad going, but I knew it would
01:26mean a lot to us. I think it would be nice to get it over and done with and put our name
01:29on it, because it's the one that's been getting away from us even before I was here. It would
01:36be good to get our name on it. You scored with literally a second left in
01:41that first period, which was crucial, wasn't it?
01:43Yeah, 100 per cent. They skated past our bench at home, we talked about that. We talked about
01:49the looks they gave us. One of their players was staring me right in the eye, I assume
01:53every time I woke up for a couple of nights. It felt good to get that second goal and tie
01:58it up and then go on and win for sure. That third period, was it a case of you've
02:02got yourselves ahead, was it just a case of closing the game out as best you could?
02:05I don't think so, because I don't think we're good at that. I think we're just tired. There's
02:09no excuses, because they are too. We had a long travel to Solway and back, guys blogged
02:14a lot of minutes at the weekend, obviously focusing on that. We're a tired group right
02:20now. As you said earlier, we enjoyed tonight and we've just got to take care of ourselves
02:24going into the weekend. We're just a bit tired, to be honest.
02:43Yeah, really tough to take. I thought we were pretty good for the majority of the game.
02:48I've just said to the lads in the changing room, I don't feel personally like at any
02:52point we were hemmed in for large parts of the game. We weren't playing too much defensive
02:55hockey, but it was just one of those games where they took chances and we didn't. So
03:01we got off to a good start, but in recent weeks, we've just got to learn to play with
03:05the lead.
03:05You had plenty of zone time, it seems, throughout the game, throughout all three periods. But
03:11you came up against a goalie like yours, who was in good form again.
03:15Yeah, I mean, Goss is a great keeper and he seems to be on form every time we play him.
03:19So we can't use that as an excuse. Credit to him, he made some great saves. But we have
03:22to just be a little bit more clinical in front of the net, as they were tonight.
03:25Yeah, tough three or four days for you. Three defeats, which is not what anyone wants. But
03:31how do you bounce back from this? You've got a couple of days rest, as it were, before
03:35I suppose the season returns to normal in some ways, yeah?
03:37Yeah, it's all weighed up like that. So I've just told the boys to go and enjoy the evening,
03:41with it being New Year's Eve, and be with their friends and family, and just come back
03:44with a fresh mentality, a fresh attitude. I'll defend them to the hilt. It's a really
03:47good group of guys that we've got in there, and I won't change them for the world.
03:50So I'm proud of their efforts over the last three days. Three losses, but we've played
03:54a lot of good hockey. So we take the positives and we just have to move on.