Women’s Championship
Dewsbury Moor ARLFC, Sunday 21 July 2024 (2pm)
Dewsbury Moor 0-26 Leigh Leopards
Leopards took another big step towards winning the first of their seasonal objectives, the Championship League Leaders accolade, by reeling off their 12th win in a row.
Dewsbury Moor showed why they have recorded some impressive results of late and gave the Leopards their strongest league test of the season.
But the Leopards more than stood up to the test, defending superbly when they had to, earning their fifth shut-out of the season, and using their strike power to post five unanswered tries.
Becky Greenfield got the visitors off to the best possible start with a smart finish in the right corner as Leopards confidently spread the ball wide on the last tackle.
Storm Cobain notched her 13th try of the season with a great attacking line to pierce the close-range defence with Charlotte Melvin kicking the first of her three conversions.
When Kate Howard spied a hole in the retreating Moor defence and raced over from distance from dummy half for her 14th try of the season, Leopards had assembled a hard earned 16-0 lead they maintained until half-time.
Moor defended resolutely in the warm and energy-sapping conditions and showed plenty of invention in attack but the Leopards’ defensive effort was unrelenting.
Time and again the Leopards would work as a team to restrict the home side’s yardage and force errors with the ferocity of their defensive efforts.
Moor halfback Scarlett Hartley went closest to a home try but was held up over the line on her back.
The second half followed a similar pattern as Leopards dominated territory and possession but the home defence worked hard to keep the score down.
Claire Mullaney ran a perfect close-range line to open the second half scoring and the Leopards’ greater bench strength was another crucial factor.
As head coach Kieron Purtill took the opportunity to have a look at different options some of the usual Leopards’ attacking fluency was not as prevalent.
But the hard-working Freya Turner crashed over in the left corner and Melvin’s touchline conversion wrapped up the Leopards’ third away win in as many weeks.
Leopards have now won all 12 Championship games, and scored 570 points, conceding only 54.
They next face Castleford Tigers at Twist Lane on Sunday 4 August (2pm) with their remaining games at home to Bradford Bulls and away at both Hull KR and Stanningley.
They then face a top-four play-off to determine the Championship winners.
The winners of the Championship North face the southern grand final winners on a neutral ground. The winners of that game then face the bottom team in the Women’s Super League to determine which team will play in the elite competition in 2025.
Moor
Lacie Bruines; Faye Barraclough, Charlotte Jayne McDaid, Lucy Thomas, Mia Barrett; Frankie Blakey, Scarlett Hartley; Cheryl Asheley Foudji, Courtney Lettice, Sophie Duffy, Pauliane Wambalu, Grace Firth, Sienna Sharp.
Bench: Lydia Fawkes, Chelsea Bradley, Vicky Brook
Leopards
Hattie Dogus, Becky Greenfield, Charlotte Melvin, Abi Gordon, Freya Turner; Rhianna Burke, Leah Morris; Keira McCosh, Kate Howard, Mairead Quinn (capt), Keli Morris, Storm Cobain, Grace Hill
Bench:
Sam Brazier, Eleanor Dainty, Claire Collins, Claire Mullaney
Tries: Greenfield (6), Cobain (19), Howard (26), Mullaney (48), Turner (55)
Goals: Melvin 3/ 5
Scoring sequence: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16 (ht) 0-20, 0-26
Penalty count: 4-1
