It all came together for the Hammerheads during eleven glorious minutes in Northampton at the weekend.

Sadly, they were the last eleven.

Had the tenacity and guile that gave Leeds such dominance during the second half of their encounter with Devonport prevailed throughout the weekend, they would most certainly have returned to Yorkshire with a clean sheet.

As it was, they opened their Womens Champs 2 crusade with a 6-10 defeat on Saturday to a competent Tyldesley side that went on to make their home town of Wigan proud with an unbeaten weekend.

Sunday’s brace of games opened with a frustrating encounter against Southampton; who, like Leeds, had qualified for Phase 2 of the BWPL tournament along with English Roses, Birmingham and league hot shots Liverpool.

Though the match drew to a nail-biting 5-6 close in favour of Southampton, it gave the Hammerheads a chance to show just how formidable and disciplined they can be in defence. Combative spells from on-form Lauren Richardson, Louise Boaz and fearless Ellie Sowerby – and some brave instinctive saves from Rachel Thompson in the red cap, left the game without score at the end of Q1.

Such was the extent of Leeds’ defensive strength - particularly around their own goal, that they had conceded only two goals by half-time - and had neutralized each thanks to inspired solo efforts from Lauren Richardson and Giulietta Lane.

Though Southampton were unrelenting and well-drilled in their attacking play, Leeds continued to make it very difficult for them to make any meaningful progress and in a tit-for-tat second half, the Hammerheads remained just a single goal behind thanks to two tenacious goalmouth steals by Lousie Boaz and a crafty well-timed shot from Ellie Sowerby.

Following a slow first half against Devonport that included some careless early slip-ups, Leeds faced a 3-4 deficit going into half-time. And then someone flicked the switch. Three stunning goals from Lisa Marshall, one each from Ellie Sowerby and Terri Millington, and a pair of sublime lobs from Selene Chew knocked Devonport off balance. Kate Harrison scored two more in as many minutes and Lisa Marshall closed the game down with a cheeky final lob from half way to produce a much-deserved 13-4 final scoreline.

Next stop Walsall!