Leeds Hammerheads maintained their blemish-free BWPL Division 3 campaign in Walsall at the weekend with contrasting victories over Sunderland and Southampton.

It means the Leeds ladies remain first equal in their league and travel to Northampton next month to play tournament joint top-dogs Liverpool having already secured their place in the competition’s coveted Top 5 clubs.

The two-match weekend got off to a shaky start against a bottom-placed Sunderland side that came into the game without a win and yet found itself only two goals down at the end of a tempestuous first quarter.

A crafty lob from Lisa Marshall shortly after the start of Q2 was followed swiftly by a well-executed strike by Giulietta Lane that followed an inspired passage of build-up play from sisters Ellie and Sophie Sowerby. Solid defence work from Selene Chew and Holly Short and goals from Ellie Sowerby and Louise Boaz created daylight between the two teams and saw Leeds go into the half-time break 8-4 up.

A perfectly-placed penalty shot from Shevonne Lowth and an audacious steal from Ellie Sowerby followed by a pass that put sister Sophie into a scoring position, extended Leeds’s lead to 10-5 going into a final quarter. Two more goals from left-hander Sophie Sowerby during the dying minutes of the game produced a 12-5 final tally.

Southampton’s girls drove up to Walsall with a very clear game plan that caused difficulties around the pool for Leeds and kept the game scoreless until sustained pressure gave Southampton first blood after seven minutes. Undaunted, Leeds dug deep and drew level thanks to a marvelous solo effort from half-way by Selene Chew. Sophie Sowerby shrewdly set up Lisa Marshall for the goal that gave Leeds the slim one-goal advantage as the first quarter drew to a close.

Terri Millington and Leanne Pochin were formidable in both attack and defence and regularly gave Sophie Sowerby the perfect platform to launch a succession of drives from the right flank that eventually rewarded her with a goal of her own midway through the second quarter, and also set up Selene Chew and Lisa Marshall.

Going into the second half 3-5 down did nothing to dampen the spirits of the foxy Southampton girls and they retaliated with an early strike to nudge the score back to 4-5. A patch of flawless defence work by Ellie Sowerby was rewarded with a penalty that Shevonne Lowth put away with her customary skill and ease.

Two spells of lackluster defence work rewarded Southampton with soft goals to level the scores and it was only a brace of well-executed moves following tactically-perfect time-out calls by coach Andy Wilson that bewildered Southampton and produced goals for Lisa Marshall and Holly Short.

The game seemed to edge beyond Southampton’s grasp when more outstanding solo efforts from Lisa Marshall and Shevonne Lowth extended Leeds' lead to 10-6.

Not so!

Gritty determination produced three quick-fire unanswered goals and dragged Southampton back into contention. Only a very mature and level-headed finish enabled Leeds to head back home with a deserved five-from-five record in the bag.