BR Ladies Seconds 6

Scarborough 0

Quite often the first match after the Christmas and New Year gorging session is a bit like watching the only surviving fattened turkeys trying to run up and down the hockey pitch while struggling not to have a heart attack.

Fortunately Ben Rhydding is a sports club rather than a turkey farm and is home to many finely tuned athletes who were eager to get back into winning ways.

The fact that Scarborough have yet to score a point in the league this season could have been a big banana skin.

In fact the more worrying aspect to Scarborough's game was the fact that their centre-forward had just finished a 25 day ban for punching a player in a previous game. Needless to say there were not many takers for any close marking on her.

Ben Rhydding played well from the start and were rewarded with three goals by half-time courtesy of Camilla Dyson, Alexa Jennings and a stunning text book centre-forward goal from Karen French who (worryingly) is not a centre-forward.

The second-half was poorer quality than the first but Ben Rhydding continued to create chances and increased the goal tally to six after a well struck short corner from Demy Dowley and further goals from Jennings and Dyson.

Karina Kilner has just moved up the the Seconds and in her first match played extremely intelligently and will certainly be scoring goals in the near future.

All in all a very good start to the second half of the season.

Colne Valley 1

B R Ladies Thirds 1

On Saturday, after a four week break, Ben Rhydding Ladies Thirds travelled to Huddersfield for their league fixture against Colne Valley with four regular players missing.

This was always going to be a closely-fought match as Ben Rhydding had narrowly beaten Colne Valley 1-0 in their home fixture earlier in the season.

Colne Valley started strongly and soon put the visitors' defence under pressure forcing several short corners.

However, with tight marking and some excellent defending, Ben Rhydding started playing their passing game and following a superb pass out of defence by Ellie Banks, the ball was given to Alice Ackroyd, who had an outstanding game.

She then raced down the right wing to put a great pass into the circle which was met by Beth Pawson who slotted the ball into the back of the net.

In the second-half, following an injury, Ben Rhydding were forced into a re-shuffle.

Newcomers Steph Jones and Emily Naylor both playing well and Charlotte Chapman once again playing with confidence in the midfield.

However, mid-way through the second-half, following constant pressure from Colne Valley, their superb pass into the circle was neatly slotted into Ben Rhydding's goal giving Jenna Appleby no opportunity of saving it.

This game could have gone either way with both teams being quick on the attack and having good chances to score.

Elisa Powell and Alice Ackroyd both went close to scoring for Ben Rhydding.

In defence Jenna Appleby in goal and Emma Lowe both had superb games.

This was once again a determined display by a team mixed with youth and experience who thoroughly deserved this draw.

l Ben Rhydding Ladies Thirds' next fixture is away to Bradford on January 26.

TEAMS

BEN RHYDDING (home to Bowden, 1.30pm) from: Oakes, Weaver, Bull, Beckford, Cutter, Foster, Gledhill, Hannath, Harmer, D Kelly, King, J Laxton, W Musgrave, Parkes, Schofield, Smith, Sugden.

Seconds (at Bradford, 1.30pm): TBA, Locke, A Gibson, Thompson, French, L Lambert, Hatfield, I Cussons, TBA, TBA, TBA, TBA.

Thirds (home to Bradford, 4.30pm): Pratt, Jolly, Bevington, Logan, Vernon, Skinner, Baker, Hansell, Priestley, S Laxton, H Lambert, Horsman.

Fourths (home to Sixths, on grass, noon): A Martin, Pawson, Charters, R Gibson, Hughes, Chin, Birkenshaw, T Zillesen, C Borrett, R Hutton, J Hutton, Meredith, Ashdown.

Fifths (home to York, 3pm): Parapia, A Woodhead, Blackburn, Lowe, H Timperley, Jordan, Ketterman, Hatton, R Dawson, Till, Hornby, A Musgrave.

Sixths (home to Fourths, on grass, 12 noon): Funnel, A Packett, O Packett, B Dawson, Whitworth, A Charlesworth, Massey, Parfitt, Laycock, Harlen, S Mounsey, S Forbes, A Hall.

Sevenths (home to Normanby, on grass, 2pm): M Briggs, Roughton, Jackson, Birdsall, Birtwhistle, N Borrett, O Hall, Metcalfe, Grummitt, K Borrett, S Timperley, A Mounsey.