Manchester Survive Late Leeds Revival

IT WAS a new campaign with an old adversary lying in wait for University ofManchester in their opening BUSA fixture yet the home side managed to secure a vital victory despite a spirited resurgence by Leeds. With their cross-Pennine rivals trailing by a twelve goal deficit at the end of the second quarter, Manchester preceded to flirt with disaster for the rest of the game as their commanding position was steadily undermined by growing Leeds pressure, forcing a test of nerve that made for a thrilling finish to the game. The early exchanges in the first quarter belied any hint of the contest that was to come.

Acting captain Laura Heaton saw her side settle immediately with fluid passing finished off with some solid shooting from Halimah Deshong and Hettie Bostock, who quickly found their range. The Leeds approach play was littered with unforced errors and over-ambitious lay-offs which enabled Manchester to establish an 11-5 lead at the end of the first period.

The only sour note was the injury sustained by the gravity-defying Goal Defence Catherine McGough, who became an early casualty in this `Battle of the Roses´. Despite this disruption, the home side continued to match endless energy with some intelligent and incisive movement in the second quarter, orchestrated by the skilful endeavour of Tash Greenough at Centre. This created ample time and space for the attack to consistently feed the Manchester shooters with a barrage of opportunities who duly converted position into points and stretched their lead to a healthy 23-14 advantage at the half-way point.

However it was at this stage the belated Leeds comeback finally materialised as the Yorkshire outfit rapidly racked up 6 consecutive unanswered goals that induced tension and nerviness into Manchester´s play, reflected in some uncharacteristically loose passing. At 28-26, the away side were in tantalising reach of a lead.

However in the last quarter an increasingly composed Manchester side demonstrated sensible tactical acumen with a renewed level of intensity, under the imperious marshalling of Hettie Bostock and Natalie Attoh in defence, to edge out a 36-33 victory at the final whistle.

As it was, neither side will feel wholly satisfied with performances that highlighted areas of weakness as much as their considerable strengths. Manchester´s inability to twist the knife in this match could have been fatal for them on this occasion; their next opponents Durham might not be so merciful.