Keighley Albion Ladies 40 Dearne Valley Bulldogs Ladies 0

KEIGHLEY Albion RLFC's new ladies team made a fine start to the Merit League season as they demolished Dearne Valley Bulldogs 40-0 on Sunday in South Yorkshire.

Albion dominated on every part of the pitch with powerful tackling and quick accurate passing, and this lead to their opening score. Stacey Wood crossing the whitewash after only five minutes.

Wood then combined her powerful drives with speed and went on to score twice in as many minutes, with Laura Ackroyd converting one of the two tries.

Ackroyd and Sarah Shillito then linked up with some very good, quick attacking play, which led to Ackroyd getting over the line for Albion's fourth.

In the second half, the speedster Hollie Haigh on the wing cut through the Bulldogs defence with a nice angled run and got over their line for the fifth.

Next came Stacey Wood again, who powered over the whitewash for her fourth and also hit her own conversion. This completed a fine debut for the club and ensured her the women of the match performance.

Soon after, Siama Hussain made a superb run on an angle to get over to score on the left. Another try followed from Mckenzie Boocock, who used her small but very powerful frame to wriggle through the Bulldogs defence and touch down.

Hooker Jade Charlton then topped off the day with a typical scoot from dummy half to touch down to the right of the sticks and Laura Ackroyd scored the conversion to complete the scoring.

This finished off a historical first game for Keighley Albion Ladies, with the effort of all 13 players making a strong statement to their rivals.

Next up is a home friendly against Dewsbury Celtic, who sit above Albion in the league, which takes place this Sunday with a 1pm kick off.