Anna Gray
Women’s Lacrosse
Uni 25 – 1 Newcastle

Although the weather was cold and miserable, Leeds Women’s Lacrosse 1sts did not let this bring them down, gaining an impressive 25-1 win against Newcastle 2nds last Wednesday.
The game began quite slowly, Leeds had possession in attack but their cuts into the fan were not fully on point. However, after about four minutes, once they began a settled play, Bella Hitchcock saw her chance and scored the first goal of the match.
With the first goal scored, Leeds seemed to lose a little concentration and the next centre draw ended up going straight to Newcastle’s Wing Attack. She managed to achieve a fast break and scored, putting Newcastle on the scoreboard, with their first and only goal. A shocked Leeds walked back to the centre draw without a spring in their step, but this was the kick Leeds needed to step up their game.
From that point onwards, the defence were quick to cover their players effectively if the ball came anywhere near their goal, and despite numerous attempts, a frantic and failing Newcastle were unable to get past them and the Leeds goalie, Fatema Lookmanjee, for the rest of the match.
The game sped up significantly and Leeds showed Newcastle who was the dominant team. By half time LUUWLC 1sts were up 10-1 and the Newcastle players looked lost. During the halftime talk, the Leeds coach, Antonia Heap, and the 1st Team Captain, Danielle Hill, emphasised the importance of placing shots and accurate passing, but overall found it hard to fault the team’s excellent play.
With this advice in mind the second half began with more focus and accuracy than before. A particularly impressive goal occurred when Danielle Hill, holding the ball behind the goal, spotted Harriet Newton tearing through the fan, and passed it straight into her stick. Harriet finished it off with a beautiful quick-stick into the top left corner of the goal, straight past the Newcastle goalie.
Like last week, the Leeds domination of the match meant that 10 of the team of 14 scored at least one goal, with Caitlin Baty the top goal scorer with six goals – the past week’s practices on cuts and picks in the fan clearly paying off.
Leeds 1sts went on to win, with another staggering result of 25-1, bringing the girls one step closer to promotion into the Premier Northern League next year!
Leeds 2nds unfortunately lost this week after a tough game against Northumbria 1sts, 16-8.
Next Fixture: Sheffield 1sts v Leeds 1st, 31st October

Author: Anna Gray