Match Reports
Women’s 5XI
Author: Lou-Lou Danger
Women’s 5XI – 3 v 2 – Ben Rhydding 4XI
The Women’s 5XI were away again this week, although luckily this time a little bit closer to home than Scarborough the week before.
We arrived in a very overcast Ben Rhydding (after a painful car journey full of Sam Smith and Dua Lipa) excited to continue our recent good form.
Captain Laura Matthews unfortunately let herself down slightly in the queue for the toilet when she asked (in all seriousness) whether the red and white striped tape inside the club house, as well as the 2m distancing signs, were in fact Ben Rhydding’s idea of some spooky Halloween decorations.
The rain held off for a while but, as our luck would have it, as soon as we were allowed onto the pitch, it seemed the monsoon had really come to West Yorkshire for the day. Vertical rain, sideways rain, even rain that got into Katie Barrass’ contact lenses and caused a temporary bout of blindness, we really had it all. Thoroughly drenched, freezing cold and now partially sighted, we were ready to start!
From the outset, Leeds maintained most of the possession, reluctant to give up the ball to the opposition. Continued hassling from Suzie Hall and Bessie Allan meant that they were able to feed the ball out to Sabine waiting on the right wing. Taking advantage of Ben Rhydding’s narrow formation, the ball was passed quickly down the side line, then cut across into the ‘D’ from the base line to Ganni who smoothly slotted it into the back of the net for the first goal of the match.
Luck was not on Katie Barrass’s side on Saturday and after taking a ball to the boob, she hobbled off the pitch for a bit of mid-match self care. A couple more opportunities presented themselves for us to score (namely two penalty corners) however we were unable to convert them and ended the first half on 1-0.
At the beginning of the second half, it was our “pass” back (according to Lucy Bell; the Irish equivalent of our more sensical “push” back). Seeing a huge gap that Ben Rhydding had left unattended, Lou-Lou Danger took her chance and made a run for it through their slacking formation with Lucy Bell on her left. This didn’t result directly in a goal, however Lucy Bell was able to secure us a penalty corner from which she took a straight strike. Although the first shot didn’t go in, and some scrappy goal line play ensued, Lou-Lou eventually was able to put the ball in the back of the net to bring us to 2-0.
This score line remained unmoved for the next 30 minutes of the second half however this was not a reflection of some of the great play that occurred during this time.
A DREAMY save from Holly Sheen with a flying stick-in-the-air jump earned her MoM. Katie Brayzier battled to keep Ben Rhydding’s attackers away from our goal with Lucy Bell in midfield working hard to get back to support.
It was the final five minutes where things started to get interesting (and yes, apparently three goals can be scored this close to each other, who knew!).
Ben Rhydding made a break for it and pulled our keeper out from the goal line from which they were able to score their first goal.
We retaliated quickly, earning a short corner from which left-slip Ruby Jamson scored a lovely reverse stick goal. Thinking we were back again on safe ground at 3-1, we lost concentration and the opposition were able to exploit this and scored again.
It was safe to say the final few minutes were quite stressful, and the final whistle, confirming our 3-2, win was greatly welcomed.
MotM – For the second week in a row, to the goalie Holly Sheen for some cracking saves, being fully on it all game and a DIRECT quote: ‘just wow’ (the ultimate compliment).
DotD – And me (Lou-Lou Danger) DoD, also for the second week in a row, for the following reasons:
- For spending so much time on the floor
- Cutting herself within two minutes of the game
- For asking whether we’d scored a goal despite us all being lined up for a push back
So there you have it, a game full of extreme weather, exotic injuries but most of all, some great hockey. It is sadly likely to be our last game for a while but definitely one to be proud of.
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