Leeds Athletic 52 Oldham 54

Oldham made the trip over the Pennines for the roses clash in the hope that they succeed to stay at the top of division one of the Premier League. Oldham had an addition to their squad giving much needed match practice to Northern Thunder signing Janelle Lawson. Lawson made an instant impact in at goal attack working the court well and combining with shooter Krista Enziano. The defence of Sarah Carter, Emma Dovey and Rachael Taylor kept a tight ship at the back turning the ball over comfortably and helped Oldham into a 17-12 lead at the quarter time break.

The second quarter saw an early change with Kathryn Turner replacing Lawson at goal attack; however, the Oldham attack began to struggle to work the ball into the goal third. The Leeds defence began to intimidate their opposition giving the Oldham attack a tough time. Their attack began to find some flow with Jo Walker and Rachel Shaw combining well in the circle. Leeds took the quarter by two and decreased Oldham’s lead to only three goals.

Oldham took the opportunity to rest some of the players that took part in the Fastnet Grand Prix the day before; the defence of Dovey and Carter was replaced by Kerry Almond and Georgie Webster. Rachel Henry came on for Maria McAndrew at wing attack and Lawson took the goal shooter bib from Enziano, while Dani Bloomfield came on for the superb Laura Malcolm in the middle. Oldham took time to settle and struggled to find a flow in attack, this saw them go down to a seven goal deficit and Leeds were well on top. With six minutes left on the clock wing defence Rachael Taylor went down after taking a knock to the jaw, she was replaced by Dani Bloomfield moving from centre with Malcolm returning in the middle. Coach Debbie Hallas took the opportunity to switch Lawson to goal attack and bring Enziano back on at goal shooter.

The change worked with Oldham having more options at centre pass and through the attack. They clawed back to within three goals with Leeds leading 44-41.

The final quarter saw one last change with new England International Dovey coming back on at goal defence. Dovey impressed getting the better of Rachel Shaw who was grounded several times in robust challenges. Oldham began to take control of the game once again and Leeds felt the pressure. With two minutes to go Oldham regained the lead and Dovery picked up another crucial interception to send Oldham two goals up. Oldham played possession for the remainder of the game and ran out winners 54-52 keeping their position at the top of the league.

Coach Debbie Hallas said: “What a game, this game had everything and was certainly entertaining for the spectators. We made heavy weather of the second and third quarters and the changes affected us somewhat. However, I was conscious that many of the girls had a long day the day before and didn’t want to overplay tired legs.”

“Emma Dovey was outstanding today and was my player of the match, Laura Malcolm was up there too while Janelle Lawson had a big influence on the game.”

Squad: Sarah Carter, Emma Dovey, Kerry Almond, Georgie Webster, Rachael Taylor, Dani Bloomfield, Laura Malcolm, Rachel Henry, Maria McAndrew, Kathryn Turner, Janelle Lawson, Krista Enziano

Premier League 1