Championship North, Sunday 8 September 2024 (2pm)
The Arthur Miller Stadium
Stanningley 0-24 Leigh Leopards
Leopards’ potential path towards their Super League goal became clearer after the final round of Championship games concluded with a hard-fought win at the Arthur Miller Stadium.
Stanningley provided determined opposition, tackling and defending resolutely to restrict the visitors to five tries on a wet afternoon in West Yorkshire.
Hammered 13-2 in the penalty count, Leopards showed plenty of resolve in adversity to get the job done and complete a magnificent 100percent winning run in the Championship.
Played 16, Won 16, Points for 808, against 64 is the incredible record that Kieron Purtill’s team has achieved in the record-breaking season.
But they know it will all count for nothing unless they are still playing- and winning- in a month’s time.
Now the focus switches to the play-offs with table topping Leopards at home to fourth-placed Oulton Raidettes at Twist Lane next Sunday.
If successful they will then host the winners of the Sheffield Eagles- Salford Red Devils semi-final the following week in the Championship North grand final.
The winners of that game will play the Southern Championship grand final winners London Broncos at a neutral ground.
The winners of that game then play Super League’s bottom team, Featherstone Rovers, as a curtain raiser to the Super League grand final for the right to play in the topflight in 2025.
Leopards struggled for their normal attacking fluency despite dominating field position throughout a stop-start game.
It took them 20 minutes before leading scorer Hattie Dogus cut through to score her 23rd try of the season.
Charlotte Melvin, Becky Greenfield and Rhianna Burke added further tries as Leopards built a 20-0 interval lead.
Stanningley showed admirable defensive commitment in a losing cause in the second half, restricting the league leaders to just one further try, as Greenfield’s second try completed the scoring.
Leopards kept their hosts’ score blank for their seventh defensive shut-out of the season.
Conceding only 64 points in 16 games, an average of four points per game against, is an outstanding effort and demonstrates that Leopards are well equipped for the exciting play-off challenges ahead.
Stanningley
Amelia Hirst; Georgia Heald, Jasmine Rowlands, Evie Crowther, Bryony Cox; Laura Dyson, Emily Poole; Ella Cessford, Freya Whitehead, Rebecca Reeve-Burnett, Jodie Davies, Samantha Pearce, Rachel Twibilll
Bench:
Heather Macdonald, Lyndsey Cunnett, Yvie Prior-Smith, Jadyn Plummer
Leopards
Hattie Dogus; Toryn Blackwood, Charlotte Melvin, Gabi Leigh, Kim Seddon; Rhianna Burke, Leah Morris; Lucy Johnson, Kate Howard, Eleanor Dainty, Robyn Bell-Soppelsa, Claire Collins, Grace Hill
Bench
Becky Greenfield, Keira McCosh, Rachel Porter, Mairead Quinn (capt)
Tries:
Dogus (20), Melvin (23), Greenfield (34, 68), Burke (40)
Goals:
Melvin 1/ 3, Howard 1/ 1, Seddon 0/ 1
Sin bin: Leigh (11)
Scoring sequence: 0-4, 0-10, 0-14, 0-20 (ht) 0-24
Penalty count: 13-2
Referee: Paul Strafford
