HUDDERSFIELD Dragons Ladies moved into second spot in North Division II East after a comprehensive 7-2 victory over Roseberry Ladies at Lockwood Park.

Despite the scoreline, it was nevertheless a shaky start by the Dragons, with the visitors almost taking the lead after early domination.

Huddersfield then suddenly woke up and scored a stunning opening goal from Hannah Higginbottom, while a good spell of sustained pressure ended with a first time shot from Liz Maddaford to Dragons 2-0 in front.

Roseberry became more physical as they tried to push up the pitch, but Dragons refused to panic and extended their lead from a short corner, although the visitors did reply with a goal from their own short corner just ahead of the half-time interval.

Captain Kelly Fillingham was well aware the battle hadn’t been won as she motivated her team to continue to work hard from the re-start, and following her direction scored a fourth goal early in the half.

Roseberry made one final effort to cut the deficit, scoring a second from a short corner, but from that point on, Dragons took full command with a succession of short corners leading to a fifth goal while Rebecca Durrans drove the sixth goal from the 23-metre mark.

The visitors made one last effort, but Huddersfield’s defence cleared the danger, forcing the ball downfield, which led to the final goal of the game.

Dragons Ladies II 2 Harrogate 8

THE predominantly young second string were raring to go after a disappointing couple of weeks, but they didn’t get off to the start they wanted as they were unable to penetrate Harrogate’s defence, while at the other end they conceded four goals despite some great defensive work by Nikki Turner.

A rousing half-time talk sent Dragons out in determined fashion and they rewarded with a goal by Gwyneth Thomas, only for Harrogate to retain their fourth-goal advantage after another powerful strike beat young keeper Alex Wagstaff.

Undeterred, Huddersfield fought on and pulled another goal back thanks to a fantastic strike from Katie McColl, but despite dominating for long periods of the half, Harrogate continued to take their chances, leaving Huddersfield disappointed once more.

Team: Wagstaff, Dobson, Turner, Roberts, Durrans, Hargreaves, McColl, Ramsden, Luxford, Pinder, Peyman, Thomas.

Durham City 0 Huddersfield Dragons Men 1

LIKE their counterparts in the Ladies Division, Dragons men’s first team moved into second in the North Division II East after this tremendous away victory.

Not only was it their best performance of the season, but it was also the first time they had kept a blank sheet for a long time, testimony to the work being put in by new coach Bobby Bhogal.

The whole team worked as a unit both in defence and moving forward and they took the lead in the opening half when Jimmy Swinden converted from a penalty corner following a good spell of pressure.

Durham’s attacking chances were limited as man-of-the-match Andy Kaye didn’t miss a tackle the entire game.

The second half was played at a fast pace with both sides having chances, and although Dragons missed a couple of golden opportunities to close out the game.

Team: King, Kaye, Clark, Gregory, Jones, Pemberton, Kelly, Wyer, Swinden, Courtney, Haigh, Durrans, Goldsmith.

Dragons V 4 Halifax IV 2

AFTER their convincing win in the Cup Dragons V returned to League action, and after a short pin-point short corner injection by Mike Greenberry, Conrad Dales scored with a well-struck shot which rebounded off several defenders.

Halifax surprised Huddersfield however, with two quick strikes which just eluded keeper Paul Renfrey, leaving a real test of character for the Dragons, but they didn’t panic and hit back with an equaliser from Greenberry from close range.

Paul Dallas scored direct with a fine strike into the right corner to put Dragons back in front and they made sure of the result when Gary Clarke crossed Dales who made to mistake.

Team: Renfrey, Ridings, Flavin, Wood, Donovan, Greenberry, Bland, Dallas, Kullar, Clarke, Dales, Craig.