Leeds Women’s Hockey 1sts came from behind against Durham in a feisty game, which saw three penalty flicks and a yellow card, to emerge 3-1 winners.

 
The Gryphons started the game brightly and were rewarded with some early penalty corners but couldn’t make the most of their dominance. At the other end, Durham had the chance to take the lead 15 minutes into the first half when they were awarded a penalty flick which was then dispatched by their forward to put them ahead.

 
Leeds reacted well to going behind and began to control possession and as a result they looked dangerous once more. Another penalty corner resulted in Leeds’ equaliser when the initial shot from Sophie Watkiss was turned in from close range by Cath Scorey.
Watkiss then went close herself, hitting the crossbar with a reverse stick shot from the left hand side after some clever stick work saw her beat a couple of defenders.

 
However it looked as though the momentum was shifting in Durham’s favour when Rosie Tootell was shown a yellow card for dissent after an initial offence but Durham couldn’t take advantage while she was off the pitch.
In fact it was Leeds who found themselves ahead for the first time when Frankie Cox scored with a great solo effort. Cox split two defenders before beating another one and slotting the ball into the right hand corner of the goal.

 
Once Leeds had their full complement of players they immediately looked in control once more and early in the second half, they were awarded another penalty corner after a clever run from Kirsty Greaves.
In the melee, the officials awarded a penalty flick to Leeds which was coolly put away in the bottom left corner by Tootell, as she made up for her earlier yellow card.

 
Durham were then controversially awarded their second penalty flick of the match but it was put well wide by the forward who had already converted once and from then on Leeds never looked in danger of letting a two goal lead slip.
Elsewhere, the Women’s 2nds recorded an impressive 2-0 win against York St John 1sts, while the 3rds thrashed Newcastle 7-0. The 4ths and 5ths had tough encounters, losing 6-1 to Sheffield and 1-0 to Sheffield Hallam respectively. Meanwhile, the 6ths shared the spoils 1-1 with Hull 2nds.

 

Sam Heath
Women’s Hockey
Leeds 1st 3 – 1 Durham 2nd