BEN Rhydding’s under-16 girls enjoyed a great finale to their Yorkshire Youth League season with both teams winning their respective divisions on Sunday.
The A team maintained their unbeaten record to top the table with a maximum 16 points.
Goals from Kirsty McMillan and Jemima Jaggar gave the team a solid victory against newly-promoted York, before a typically competitive encounter against old rivals Wakefield.
Ben Rhydding put the Wakefield defence under sustained attack, but the only goal came in the final minutes when Becky Hadfield fired home.
The final game was a title shoot out against a dangerous Doncaster side.
An end to end encounter gave the spectators plenty of entertainment, and it was Freya Bellamy who slotted home an unstoppable first-time strike to give her side the advantage.
Doncaster countered immediately, but keeper Sophie Dale was determined to keep a clean sheet, and came out strongly to clear from an onrushing striker.
With Anna Pateman in fine defensive form, there was no way back for Doncaster and Ben Rhydding took the title.
Ben Rhydding’s B team had set themselves the goal of joining the As in qualifying for this month's end-of-season play-offs.
They needed to top division three to achieve this, and two wins and a draw saw them safely through after some tight games.
First up were Sheffield, and the Ilkley side weathered a barrage of attacks with keeper Stef Rose making a couple of timely saves before Darcy Hartley slot the ball home to give her side a narrow victory.
A goal from Lily Gazeley and two from newcomer Lucy Smith were enough to overcome Rotherham, before the deciding match against Driffield.
Ben Rhydding B had suffered narrow defeats to a strong Driffield side in previous meetings, and gave it their all, knowing that a draw would be enough to win the division.
Alicia Cumberland’s strike for Ben Rhydding was enough to secure 1-1 draw and the point they needed.
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