Leah Galton and Stacey Emmonds v Watford.

Leeds returned to the top of the FA Women’s Premier League National Division with a hard-fought 3-0 victory at Watford.
Goals at the start of each half by Carey Huegett and a third of the season by Clare Sykes were enough to see off a Watford side which remains rooted to the foot of the table, while putting Leeds a point ahead of Coventry, with two games in hand.

Watford suffered an early setback when keeper Lauren Davey couldn’t hold on to a Jess Holbrook’s shot, allowing Huegett to get her first, but still had several good chances in the first half. Sarah Wiltshire in particular will be disappinted after breaking through the Leeds defence after 25 minutes, only to see Leeds keeper Jules Draycott do just enough to take the ball away from her feet, before falling under a challenge from Vanessa Holmes, the referee waving away Watford’s penalty appeals.

But Leeds stepped up the pace in the second half, and Huegett got her second after Leah Galton ran down the left, cut inside and shot – Davey again failing to hold on to the shot and allowing Huegett to score from close range. Leeds made their pressure tell in the 85th minute when Emma Johnson’s ball over the top was met by Sykes, her chip under pressure beating Davey and sealing the three points and a first double of the season.

“I was really pleased with how the players who have not featured recently stood up to the mark today and applied themselves for large periods,” said Leeds manager Chris Welburn. “We are a strong squad and that showed today. We must keeping working hard and push ourselves to get the consistency in results that we know we are capable of.”

Next up for Leeds is the visit of Barnet FC Ladies next Sunday, 30 October, with kick-off at Farsley’s Throstle Nest ground at 2pm.

Teams

Leeds Draycott, Emmonds, Sharp, Birkby, Lipman (Johnson, 71 mins), Sykes, Huegett (Bass, 86 mins), Rich (Danby, 71 mins), Galton, Holmes, Holbrook. Unused subs: Coates, Turner.

Watford Davey, Wooton, Mays, Hills, Jones, Miles, Roche (Marsh, 57 mins), Nunn (Gunn, 57 mins), Wiltshire, Walker (Natkiel, 75 mins), Sherwood. Unused sub: Butterwick.