BEN RHYDDING Women reaffirmed their change in fortunes with a brilliant 4-1 victory at Gloucester City on the final day of the season.
The five-hour drive saw Rhydding end the campaign in style while Gloucester secured safety in the EH Division One North.
The game got off to a flying start, with Poppy Lawson, who has built up a reputation for scoring world class goals, fired in clinically for the visitors. The remainder of the first half went without either team scoring another goal.
The second half started with Gloucester on the front foot and they were rewarded for the endeavour in the early stages after the break, with a well-timed finish.
The visitors reacted with true Rhydding grit and scored another goal to restore the advantage just one minute later, as young Lizzie G scoring her first national league goal with a deflection on the far post.
At this point it was all Rhydding and just five minutes later, Rebecca Birch extended the lead after applying pressure on the home side’s goalkeeper and she was unable to clear her lines.
Ben Rhydding showed no signs of letting up and defended gallantly putting a stop to any glimpse of threat from the hosts. The final goal of the game came in the final quarter with retiring captain, Sophie Davies, scoring a no nonsense shot from top of the D that Gloucester could do nothing with. It was another display of grit, determination and character by a resurgent Ben Rhydding side - and with Leeds losing elsewhere Gloucester were also safe at Leeds's expense.
From bottom of the league with just three points at Christmas time, to ending the season on 18 points and 7th in the league, Rhydding’s fairy-tale really did come to life.
So the Women retain their position in the second tier and the Men in the third tier of England Hockey and both squads look forward to a good rest before the season restarts in September.
Unfortunately for the men’s team, they ended their season with a 3-0 defeat at Doncaster, but both sides can look ahead to an even brighter future.
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