In true Varsity style, the crowds gathered on a very rainy Wednesday afternoon to watch Leeds Uni 1st XI Hockey take on Leeds Met. And after a just a few minutes, they were rewarded for their support, Uni opening the scoring with an unstoppable deflection from Rachael Ellis, guiding home a venomous cross from Varsity veteran Katie Hames.

Met replied with a breakaway goal just minutes later but, with Uni dominating the first half, the lead was soon regained. With Met struggling to get the ball out of their own 25, the pressure finally told, Laura Pegram calmly dribbling the ball around the keeper and tucking it in the corner of the goal. Another score soon followed from Uni fresher Ella Harvey, on her debut performance for the University, once again confidently beating the keeper to slot the ball firmly in the net. The half time whistle blew with Uni fighting hard to leave the pitch with their 3-1 lead.

Met came back fighting again in the second half. Clearly unhappy with trailing behind Uni, their intensity increased and they were soon applying a lot of presure. Uni resisted this pressure well for large periods but Met finally found a way through scoring deep into the second half.

Despite Met getting the ball into the Uni D much more after the change of ends, their attempts on goal were consistently denied and the Gryphons were able to hurt Met on the counter attack. Goal scoring opportunities flowed freely but Uni struggled to convert them, failing to add to their first half tally. However a strong showing from Uni in defence meant that the Gryphons held on for the 3-2 win and the Varsity trophy for yet another year.

Libby Orrett

Image courtesy of Leeds Gryphons