Uni stay top despite loss

Women's Football: Leeds Uni 1sts 0-2 Durham 1sts

By Josh Powling

An embattled Leeds Uni side were sunk by two late Durham goals on Wednesday.

Despite defeat they will remain top if Teesside fail to beat Newcastle by three goals. The result, nevertheless, is a bitter pill for the BUCS Women’s Northern  Conference 2B leaders to swallow.
    They had totally dominated the first half, but failed to capitalise while they held the ascendancy, and were duly punished late on.
    Unbeaten all season, and having dropped only two points in seven games, the home side should have been brimming with confidence. Having scored twenty-four goals in their last four games in all competitions, it looked like only a matter of time before the home side registered on the score sheet.
    The attacking play pivoted around forwards Faye Shipman and Eve Baker, with one dropping short and the other running behind Durham

’s back line. A number of breathtaking manoeuvres scythed open the away side’s defence, and only a few smart saves from the opposition’s goalkeeper kept the visitors on level terms.
    Uni continued to romp forward, staying almost continually in Durham’s half in the first period. A number of clever through balls by Jodie Crofts and Morris brought wingers Hannah Roberts and Jennie Cottrell more into play, exposing Durham’s frailties on the flanks.
    Shipman and Baker both had early chances, but it was Shipman who had the two best opportunities of the half. Minutes before half-time Durham’s back line started to push up the pitch, and Shipman very nearly punished them by beating the offside trap with two well timed runs, but was denied on both occasions by the Durham keeper.
    Lucie Gyally’s goal was threatened just once in the first half, but in an instant the home side’s defensive frailties were exposed. Durham’s strikers were not short of pace, something centre backs Gemma Lyall and Erica Morris struggled to deal with.
    The second half brought around a total turnaround for Uni’s fortunes, with Durham starting to dominate possession and territory. It became clear as the half progressed that the home side had wasted too much energy in search of the first goal, and general fatigue was evident all around the pitch.
    Baker nursed an injury through most of the second half, while she and Shipman became isolated as the midfield dropped further and further back into their own half to help out the defence.
    Ragged defending could only stem the inevitable for so long, even with keeper Gyally pulling off a wonder save with fifteen minutes left on the clock. More Durham pressure and some chaotic defending gifted the visitors the opener after eighty minutes. From then on there was only one winner, and Durham quickly added a second much to the dismay of the Uni players.
    One player confided that the recent great results had masked some average performances, and Leeds were without their star left winger Natalie Brace, away on national trials. Afterwards Jodie Crofts showed her dissatisfaction with the result, but felt that Uni were still in a strong position with three league games to play, and still with a chance of cup success.