Leeds 1s 47 – 39 Newcastle 1s
With a combination of bad traffic and bad weather, the 1sts arrived to take on Newcastle with little time to spare for a warm up. Both teams rushed onto court determined to set the tone within the first few minutes of the game. However, as the clock counted down the first quarter, it became evident that they would have to put aside all the chaos and really dig deep as a team to come out with a win, ending Q1 13-7 to Newcastle.
After a riveting team talk at quarter time the girls were prepared to take to the court in the hope of closing the gap in the score. From the first whistle Leeds stepped up their intensity with full court defence causing many errors from Newcastle. Fantastic defensive play from Lauren Potter and Georgia Blessed in the circle put pressure on the Newcastle shooters, giving Leeds the opportunity to take numerous rebounds. In doing so Leeds played the ball swiftly through court with sharp attacking drives from Amy Potter and consistent shooting from both Ciara Crosbie and Natalie Haythornthwaite, ensuring that Leeds were still in the game, ending Q2 with Leeds trailing by 2 goals.
Q3 really demonstrated why Leeds Uni 1sts have had such a great season so far, with strong performances from every player on court, the girls pulled together and rose above the countless controversial decisions made, which could easily have cost them the game. Lucinda Swayne shone throughout, leaving her WD in her wake, linking beautifully with Shana Potgieter to create opportunities for their shooters. At the end of a tough quarter the girls took the lead ending the quarter 32-31. Once Leeds 1sts found their momentum there was nothing that could stop them.
Q4 was a true display of teamwork and determination. Amy Potter worked tirelessly throughout the game turning over balls when we really needed the opportunities. The girls surged forward to end the game 47-39.
MOTM: Amy Potter
Leeds 2s v Sheffield Hallam 1s
With the addition of Olivia Ellis and Emily Pasquale, the 2s were primed to battle it out against Sheffield Hallam.
The 2s were willing to throw the ball about and attack from deep and, if they had left when they had the numbers the scoreboard may have been different.
The welsh wizard Harriet Higby stood opposite her opponent and stated ‘that she shall not pass’ as if she were Gandalf in dwarf mine of Moria. Although her efforts were admirable the Sheffield attack was too overwhelming.
Ellie towered over her opposition in defence for much of the 60 minutes and was a constant thorn in the side of Hallam. Amy Needham and Emily Morris were dogged in defence and constant nuisances to the Sheffield attackers. Their ability to combine pace with power resembled Aragorn at Weather Top.
Meanwhile super sub Olivia Ellis showed flare around the court with her ambitious offloads and accurate distribution, her work rate was reminiscent of the orcs of Isengard.
With more performances like this it won’t be long until the victories come rolling in.
Amy Needham
Leeds 3s 55 – 21 Huddersfield 1s
Going into the game, we knew that points meant prizes and we needed to concede as few goals as possible in order to strengthen our goal difference. The first quarter started strongly, with some great interceptions from the team all-round, working it down the court and turning over the ball successfully, leading to a significant lead of 18-5.
Going into the second quarter, we aimed to extend the lead, though we became slightly complacent and our level dropped to a similar level as Huddersfield, leading to a half-time score of 31-13. After a strong half-time team talk from Issy McNeile, we remained positive and keen to improve our lead and focus more on personal goals.
With fresh legs in centre court from Lauren Wigham at C and a change in defence, consistently strong feeds were going into the D and accurate shooting from Clare Steele and Chavonne Duckworth saw the score increase to 42-17.
Final quarter, we continued to fight until the end and managed to reach our target of 55-21.
MOTM: Chavonne Duckworth
Leeds 4s 34 – 31 Sunderland 1s
After a 2 hour journey up to Sunderland, Leeds 4ths were desperate for a win.
Following a good warm up we were ready to go and knew we had to win to maintain our top place in the league.
First quarter started and both teams came out hard. Leeds managed to maintain the lead with excellent defence from Alice Grieve and Georgie Andes meaning we were winning turnover after turnover.
The second quarter ended with Sunderland being one goal ahead due to slightly erratic play by Leeds.
With team changes made, Leeds stepped on for the third quarter with a new found determination. Pebbles Allard and Molly Blake put up shot after shot pulling Leeds back ahead.
The final quarter began and Leeds continued pushing on but Sunderland were fighting for the win also. Mid-court play flowed easily and defence again kept constant pressure on Sunderland’s shooting.
The match finished with Leeds winning 34-31, and therefore maintaining our top position in the league.
MOTM : Georgie Andes
Leeds 5s 72 – 5 Teesside 2s:
After a dramatic match the previous week, we went into this match with a good idea about the result we wanted. With the home advantage and a solid warm up, we were ready to put Teesside to their paces. The first quarter started off extremely well, turning their first centre to our goal. After a succession of turnovers and good shooting stats from Hannah Faulkner and good movement from Maya Szlachetko, we finished the quarter in the lead at 21:1.
Keeping the team the same, we went into the second quarter wanting to keep the turnovers coming, whilst stepping up our play. We worked the ball through the court around the Teesside players well, stemming from exceptional interceptions from defence Onah Ezukanmah and Cesca Ivaldi. Although some unforced errors and disciplinary mistakes were made, we worked so well as a team, that in this quarter we prevented Teesside from scoring at all.
Going into the third quarter, we wanted to step our game up to the level that we started on and not let any more simple errors occur. Bringing fresh legs on at WD was Amie Bloomfield, Bee Johnston at GK and Daisy at GA, the through court movement was exceptional, with extremely hard working Zoe Leonard. With a goal in mind for that particular quarter, Hannah Faulker stepped up with 90% shooting stats and there were some beautifully placed feeds into the circle from Alice Ward.
With the doubt of losing far behind us, going into the fourth quarter we set ourselves the aim of reaching 70 goals. Ellie Harris came on as GS and Cesca Ivaldi reappeared as GK. Strong interceptions were made by Amie Bloomfield and Onah Ezukanmah, resulting in turnover after turnover for Leeds. The shooters worked superbly as a team, working the ball in and out of the circle, and with 100% shooting stats from Daisy Beaven and fantastic shots from Ellie Harris, we thrashed Teesside by 67 goals, as well as reaching our set targets.
72:5
MOTM: Zoe Leonard
Leeds 6s 79-1 Teesside 3s
After a terrible start to the game all the players weren’t really in the right mindset, and with limited time and space provided to warm up we weren’t in our readiest state. However the match started well, Lauren Alderton had to sort out transportation difficulties, so wasn’t able to play from the start, so Olivia Russell stepped up and took on the GD position with Ellie Ward at GK. They both created a strong defence, which meant no goals at all were let in during the first half of the match. Play between Claire Seaton and Lucy Siena was flawless as always and Teesside couldn’t do much to gain possession as we proved quicker and more accurate than them. The first half ended with a score of 38-0.
The second half followed the same pattern; each one of Teesside’s centre passes was intercepted and turned into a goal, or an opportunity at least. Angel Wu created turnover after turnover and consequently received the well-deserved man of the match title. The last quarter saw Teesside finally gain one goal after a few questionable decisions from the umpire resulting in defence both being pulled for distance. The match ended in a 79-1 win to Leeds 6th team, as a team we are all looking forward to face the challenge of our next cup match so we can figure out what needs improving.
MOTM: Angel Wu
Sidonie Wilson
Image courtesy of Leeds University