St Helens Women 20 Leeds Rhinos Women 14

Leeds Rhinos Women’s winning run came to an end at the hands of St Helens Women with a 20-14 defeat at Thatto Heath. The home side opened the scoring inside the first five minutes; centre Katie May Williams scoring in the corner. On the Rhinos 10 meter line, a chip kick from Zoe Harris on the 5th tackle was fumbled by the defence, allowing the Saints centre to touch the ball down in goal to make the score 4-0. Leeds responded immediately by taking advantage of a penalty. Off the back of a move down the left hand side, that saw Megan Price nearly score, half back Hanna Butcher took advantage of a hole in the line, scurrying through to level the scores. Faye Gaskin doubled Saints’ lead; throwing a dummy to calve the Leeds defence open and score. The stand off used the field territory provided off the back of strong drives to position herself for the attacking play. Converting her own try, St Helens looked to be in control at 10-4. Suze Hill got Leeds back in contention as she used her airial ability to score in the corner. Strong drives again from the forwards put Leeds on their opponent’s line and a wide move, involving Forsell and Charlotte Booth, found the winger in space to score in the corner. Katie May Williams scored her second of the game, for St Helens, to open up the score once more. Pressure applied on the Rhinos line was looking to go nowhere until a wide pass opened up the space for a charging Williams to power through the defence and score. Faye Gaskin converted making the socre 14-8 in favour of the home side. But there was late drama at the end of the half. A 70 meter break by Caitlin Beevers put Leeds in an attacking position and returning captain Lois Forsell took full advantage of a broken defence to dive over the line. Courtney Hill converted her first kick of the game to put the teams level at half time, the score 14-14. The second half saw only one try that proved crucial for St Helens. A break by Katie May Williams put Saints within striking distance and a move through the halves found second rower Roxy Mura, who strolled in to score. Faye Gaskin converted to make the score 20-14. The last 30 minutes saw the tables turn both ways with the Rhinos being unlucky to get over the line. The defence from both sides was admirable as Leeds prevented Saints extending their lead whilst the home side stopped Leeds from coming back into the game. As the final whistle blew, it was a harsh defeat for the Rhinos as they conceded their first loss of the season, the final score 20-14.