York Valkyries 10 Leeds Rhinos 16

Tries from Shona Hoyle and Caitlin Beevers helped Leeds Rhinos Women to an important 16-10 away win over York Valkyrie at the LNER Community Stadium.

Bethan Dainton returned from international duty while Keara Bennett served her one-match suspension in the win over Warrington. There were three changes on the bench too as Zoe Hornby, Bella Sykes and Ella Donnelly came on for Tara Moxon, Elychia Watson and Kaiya Glynn.

As expected in a Leeds vs York clash, there was very little to separate the two teams. Both sides spent the first quarter of an hour outthinking each other, but it was the hosts who broke the deadlock. After a Shona Hoyle error, York had a full set of possession inside Leeds’ 20 metres. The ball was played wide and Eboni Partington exploited the overlap to score. Tara-Jane Stanley succeeded with the shot from outside the field.

The momentum began to shift in Rhinos’ favor when Amy Hardcastle made a break through the middle. Leeds could not capitalize on this effort but minutes later a break from Caitlin Beevers created space for Hoyle to slot over to level the scores after half an hour. Enright was targeted from the trunk.

The only other points in the inning again came from the nose of Enright. In the last minute of the half, Savannah Andrade caught Caitlin Casey too high, so the defender shot at goal and scored, giving Leeds a two-point lead at half-time.

The second half started much like the first, with both teams fighting for a foothold in the game. It wasn’t until shortly after the hour mark that Beevers went from assist to try scorer. A great play involving Enright and Casey resulted in the center scoring for the third straight game. Enright added the extras from the sideline to give Leeds a two-score lead, 14-6.

Minutes later, York tried to open their account for the second half, but the referee adjudged Emma Kershaw to have used a double move, awarding Leeds a penalty. More ill-discipline from York gave Enright the chance to add two more, which he did to extend the gap to 10 points.

Valkyrie was able to get one back as Lacey Owen found a gap on the left wing. Stanley couldn’t add the extra and those would be the last points of the match, resulting in a 16-10 win for the Rhinos ahead of the Challenge Cup semi-final against Wigan next weekend.

Leeds: Enright, Whitehead, Beevers, Hardcastle, Cousins, Butcher, Casey, Field, Bennett, Northrop, Hoyle, Murray, Dainton. Subs: Hornby, Sykes, Donnelly, Greening.

Tries: Hoyle, Beevers Goals: Enright 4/4