Ben Rhydding 3 Brooklands Poynton 2

GREAT Britain international Jo Ellis hit a hat-trick as Ben Rhydding Ladies beat a strong Brooklands Poynton side that had aspirations of winning the league to have a chance of promotion through the play-offs once more.

A big crowd had turned up to see a very competitive match and they weren’t to be disappointed.

Rhydding Ladies weathered the early pressure from the visitors and Ellis opened the scoring after a counter attack involving Laura Smith and player of the match Rachel Doherty.

Brooklands levelled the score through an intricate move and squeezed the ball beyond the Rhydding goalkeeper Charlotte Smith.

Rhydding settled into a rhythm that seemed to cause the visitors issues. Chances came and went for both sides but it was Jen Wilson who won a penalty corner that Ellis deflected home to make it 2-1 at the break.

The visitors started the second half on the front foot and levelled the score with a penalty-corner strike. The game had become very physical with both umpires showing green and yellow cards to players on both sides.

Rhydding Ladies showed great character, determination and team unity to control the rest of the game. The defensive work by Rachelle Le Bourdon and Jodie Bridger was superb, whileSmith made some great saves in the goal.

The Rhydding Ladies seemed to have creativity and positive attacking aspirations which saw them create better goal-scoring opportunities than in previous games during the season.

In the 65th minute the ball fell loose in the circle for Ellis to find the bottom corner and claim her hat-trick.

The game finished 3-2 and the well-deserved three points moved the Rhydding Ladies up to fourth in the Investec North Conference League.

Rhydding Ladies are at home to Kendal onSaturday (1.30pm).