Women’s Championship Round 8
Sunday 16 June 2024, Twist Lane (2pm)
Leigh Leopards 70-6 Stanningley
Leopards reached the halfway point of their Championship season as they ran in 14 tries on a warm and sunny afternoon at Twist Lane.
Visitors Stanningley tried hard throughout but were starved of possession as the Leopards ruthlessly went through their attacking moves.
Ireland international Storm Cobain led the way with a hat-trick of tries and seven goals, taking over the kicking duties from Charlotte Melvin, who was rested.
Former England international Becky Greenfield enjoyed a fine debut, scoring two tries and having a hand in several others, while her centre partner Mollie Young also grabbed a brace.
Leopards have now won all eight of their league fixtures so far, scoring 424 points and conceding only 36.
Young got things underway with a fifth minute try after a length-of-the-field attack sparked by Toryn Blackwood’s fine run from deep.
Freya Turner’s elusive running through a broken field then paved the way for Kate Howard to go over from dummy half.
Cobain, so dangerous with her angled running through the defensive line, scored her first try by the side of the posts.
Eleanor Dainty then showed great determination to force her way over the line in a massed tackle.
Fullback Hattie Dogus joined the line to create Greenfield’s debut try before a superbly timed pass by Rhianna Burke laid on a second for Cobain.
Cobain’s hat-trick try was a spectacular individual effort from 40 metres.
When Burke’s assist got Greenfield over for her second try, Leopards had scored at a point-a-minute in a one-sided first half.
The second half began in similar fashion as Young pierced the right edge defence for her second before Cobain’s break and Greenfield’s unselfish pass saw Blackwood cross for her tenth try of the season.
Stanningley briefly stemmed the flow of the game when fullback Amelia Hirst’s close-range kick was fastened onto by Abigail Simpson, for Emily Poole to add the goal.
But the last half hour was all about damage limitation for the visitors, faced with a big tackling stint in the warm conditions.
Dogus’s long run from a scrum did the damage for Georgia Mole to cross and bring up the half century for the fourth game in a row.
Turner’s lovely weaving run had its reward for her first try of the afternoon before Grace Hill’s surging run allowed Dogus to punish a retreating defence with her 16th try of the season.
There was just time for Keli Morris to force her way over and Cobian to kick her seventh goal before referee Shea Harrison brought the game to a close.
Leopards return to Twist Lane next Sunday, 23 June when Oulton Raidettes are the visitors (2pm).
Leopards
1 Hattie Dogus; 2 Toryn Blackwood, 32 Becky Greenfield, 22 Mollie Young, 28 Freya Turner; 6 Rhianna Burke, 24 Abi Gordon; 10 Mairead Quinn (capt), 9 Kate Howard, 20 Eleanor Dainty, 11 Keli Morris, 16 Storm Cobain, 18 Grace Hill
Bench:
17 Claire Mullaney, 14 Rachel Porter, 23 Georgia Mole, 13 Claire Collins. 18th player: 25 Olivia Boyham (not used)
Tries: Young (5, 42), Howard (17), Cobain (20, 31, 37), Dainty (24), Greenfield (27, 39), Blackwood (44), Mole (54), Turner (56), Dogus (69), K Morris (77)
Goals: Cobain 7/ 14
Debut: Becky Greenfield (Heritage Number HN#42)
Stanningley
1 Amelia Hirst; 2 Lucy Veira, 3 Emily Poole, 4 Bryony Cox, 5 Tilly Davies; 6 Chloe Winter, 7 Abigail Simpson; 8 Ella Cessford, 9 Freya Whitehead, 15 Rebecca Reeve-Burnett, 11 Jodie Davies, 12 Samantha Pearce, 13 Rachel Twibill
Bench:
14 Evie Crowther, 10 Jadyn Plummer, 17 Jasmine Rowlands, 16 Kelly Aitken. 18th player: 18 Hollie Woods
Try: Simpson (49)
Goal: Poole 1/ 1
Scoring sequence: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 20-0, 24-0, 30-0, 36-0, 40-0 (ht) 44-0, 48-0, 48-6, 52-6, 58-6, 64-6, 70-6
Referee: Shea Harrison
Penalty count: 4-2