Leeds Rhinos Women 22 St Helens Women 30

Two late tries were not enough for the Rhinos as they fell to a 30-22 defeat  by a strong St Helens side. Tasha Gaines and Adaoha Akwiwu scored tries for the Rhinos in the first half before two final scores in the last five minutes by Hanna Butcher and Courtney Winfield-Hill. The home side got off to a near perfect start when Tasha Gaines dived over in the corner after just 6 minutes. Strong runs from the Leeds forwards had the St Helens defence scrambling which created an overlap on the right. It was then simply a case of the ball passing through the hands of Roche and then Butcher who put her winger over to score in the corner. After suffering this early score St Helens hit back quickly through Rachael Woosey. The centre was on hand to receive an offload from Jodie Cunningham who had broken through the would-be tackles of several Rhinos defenders. Stott was able to add the extras and bring the scores level. The champions ran out into a commanding 16-6 lead by the half hour mark thanks to tries from Amy Hardcastle and Leah Burke. The first came on the 20 minute mark off the back of a perfect kick from halfback Rachael Harris that forced a goal line drop out. From the resulting set St Helens spread the play wide where the England centre was found in space to cross for a try. Hardcastle then turned provider as, after repeated sets on the Leeds line, Hardcastle was able to offload to her wing partner Burke who dived over in the corner. As the half wound down Leeds were facing a double digit deficit until a moment of brilliance from Georgia Roche set up a closing try for the Rhinos. The halfback stepped past the Saints defenders as she broke through the line and deep into the opposition half. Running at a scrambling defence the forwards rumbled on towards the line before second rower Adaoha Akwiku spotted a gap and drove over the line through the tackles of  two St Helens defenders. A 6 point deficit for the home side soon turned into 12 as Paige Travis scored almost immediately after the second half started. A big hit from St Helens captain Jodie Cunningham forced a knock on by Sophie Robinson in her own half. Off the back of this territory Travis was able to crash over the line after beating the covering Leeds defenders. The away side extended her lead to beyond two converted tries when Bethany Stott kicked a penalty goal just before the hour mark As the game headed into the final 15 minutes St Helens put the result beyond reasonable doubt through a try for Emily Rudge. Rudge, like her second row partner Travis, was able  crash over the line after the Saints managed to keep the ball alive through several offloads. Despite the result of the match, the large home crowd was given something to cheer about when the Rhinos scored two tries in the final 5 minutes. Firstly Hanna Butcher scored a well deserved try as she burrowed over from dummy half after a break from Winfield-Hill which saw the halfback brought down inches from the line. Hill would not be denied a try of her own as she linked up with Georgia Roche. Roche chipped over the top for Winfield-Hill rounded the fullback to score under the posts. The final whistle was blown as her conversion sailed between the sticks The Rhinos will now finish their regular season with a home game against the high flying York City Knights on the 28th August.