Leah Galton v Charlton

Leeds United Ladies re-took top spot in the FA Women’s Premier League National Division with a 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic Women – and dedicated the win to Leeds legend Gary Speed, whose death was announced earlier in the day.

Leeds came out of the blocks fastest and took the lead in the 5th minute when Captain Clare Sykes collected the ball on the edge of the Charlton box and thumped the ball into the net. Barely had the crowd time to celebrate that goal when Leah Galton flew down the left wing, drove into the box and fired across Charlton keeper Megan Lynch into the bottom-right corner.

Despite dominating possession for the whole game, it took until the 87th minute for Leeds to extend their lead, Emma Lipman playing a ball out wide to Galton which took out most of the defence, allowing Galton to run on and score her second.

“I was pleased with the strong, physical and intense start which gave us the two early goals,” said Leeds manager Chris Welburn. “One thing we do need to improve on is our ability to finish games off earlier, we made plenty of chances today, but overall I’m really pleased to get another three points.

“We got the news about Gary Speed as we were preparing for the game, and it was a great shock to us all. Like many Leeds players of his era, Gary was a great supporter of the Ladies side, and many people connected with the club worked with him over the years. We send our condolences to his family, and dedicate our win today to his memory. He will be missed.”

Next up for Leeds is a trip to Aston Villa Ladies on Sunday 4 December, before a potential table-topping clash with Sunderland a week later.