Hockey

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Nov 22, 2006

Byline: David Lockwood ,

A late match-winning lob from Amanda Sowerby sealed a thrilling 2-1 victory for Lockwood Park Dragons over Rotherham.

Although not exactly neighbours, when the Dragons meet Rotherham, the game always has a derby air to it, and this clash was no exception.

From the outset Rotherham showed their strength, forcing Lockwood onto the backfoot and putting their defence under constant pressure, and eventually broke through to score.

But that proved the turning point as Dragons finally came 'out of the blocks' and began to play the attacking style of hockey which has seen them beat some of the top sides.

Player-of-the-match Alice Cowdell was instrumental in her distribution, which enabled Lockwood Park to attack down either flank and just before half-time they equalised when Nikki Turner surged down the right and sent over a pinpoint cross for Linda Stacey to put away.

Sowerby put the ball into the net from a short corner early in the second half, but it was ruled out, while Helen Hough fired another shot just wide as the match seemed destined for a draw.

But with the final whistle beckoning, a short corner was whipped out to Sowerby who lobbed the ball home from the edge of the D and to leave the Dragons on a high.

Team:Hodgson, Davies, Gerrard, Hall, Cowdell, Armitage, Sawyer, Sowerby, Stacey, Turner, Hough, Dexter.

Batley Kirklees 0 Lockwood Park Dragaons II 4

DRAGONS remain unbeaten at the top of Yorkshire League Division II following their eighth successive victory. It was 15 minutes before Green opened the scoring, following a cross from Middleton, and she added a second from a short corner. A shot from Bailey rebounded off the keeper and Bidwell made it 3-0, before Green struck her hat trick goal just ahead of the break. In the second half Batley came out stronger and marked Dragons out of the game, but despite the bulk of the possession Lockwood's defence held firm, led by sweeper Di Napoli, who has made a great start to the season.

Team:Vernon, Di Napoli, Smeaton, Luxford, Roberts, Parkin, Bailey, Bidwell, Middleton, Sharpe, Green, Wallis.

Lockwood Park Dragons III 0 Hull 4

LOCKWOOD Park's third team suffered their first defeat of the season against a speedy and skilful Hull side. The visitors scored an early goal which served to give them extra confidence, and they surged forward to net two more before half time. After re-grouping during the interval Dragons came out fighting and forced the Hull keeper to make several saves. But when their opponents pushed forward again they added a fourth despite an outstanding second half from Dragons' keeper Claire Davison. Roisheen McEwan was Park's player-of-the-match.

Team:Davison, McCallum, Bates, Luxford, Moncuck, Brown, Hampshire, McEwan, Smeaton, Thomas, Dobson, Mallinson, Sanyika, Roberts.

Colne Valley II 2 Dewsbury Kirklees 0

IT was a tough first half for Valley with very few chances on goal. However, after the break, they continued to work hard and when Harris hit a superb ball from outside the circle it deflected off the keeper's pads and Moore slotted into the net. Harris then fired a shot home after a great cross from Riley, but the goal to be disallowed. Player-of-the-match Flynn worked tirelessly in midfield and was rewarded with a well-deserved goal to seal victory.

Team:Needham, Russell, Haigh, Lundy, Harris, Flynn, Carrington, Sunderland, Moore, Bill, Riley, Higginbottom, Ford.

Huddersfield 1 Leeds University 2

HUDDERSFIELD had a mixed weekend against two University sides, going down to Leeds on Saturday, while having to settle for a draw on Sunday against York. Against Leeds, they went behind early in the game, but held firm for the remainder of the half to keep out their Yorkshire League-leading opponents. But they did find an equaliser in the second half through Clem Gregory. And that's how it stayed until minutes from the end when Leeds took advantage of lapse in concentration to chip the on-rushing keeper for the winner.

Team:Howarth, Townend, Christie, Hannam, Gibson, Gregory, Kelly, Peachey, Moorhouse, Elson, Kaye.

THE following day Huddersfield held the advantage over York for much of the game, but then let victory slip away from them with a late equaliser by the York University side. York had taken the lead from a short corner, but Rob Kelly then picked up a loose ball and broke away to score the equaliser. The match remained level until late in the second half when Greg Moorhouse flicked a short corner into the roof of the net from close range. At that looked likely to be the winning strike until York's late show.

Team:Howarth, Townend, Christie, Hannam, Peachey, Gregory, Kelly, Courtney, Moorhouse, Durrans, Lovatt.

Huddersfield VI 2 Boston Spa 10

DESPITE the scoreline, this was a reasonable performance from Huddersfield who actually led 1-0 at the interval through a strike from Ed Shimell, while keeper Durrant was in inspired form. Boston however, made some adjustments in the second half and ripped Huddersfield apart, scoring four times in as many minutes. Another Shimell shot was deflected in by Wynter, but it was only a token strike as Boston queued up to inflict Huddersfield's biggest defeat yet.