The game held huge importance as Hallam fought to stay clear of relegation and Durham pushed for top of the table. This was a match that Captain Tamsin Collingridge had to watch from the sideline due to an injury from the previous game and so the captaincy band was handed to Jenna McQueen for the game. Both teams started well playing high intensity flowing hockey with Durham showing more signs of danger as Claudia Culley dominated the centre of the pitch making continuous piercing runs. Tempers rose for Hallam as Megan Sloan pulled off tackle after tackle on her opposite number raising frustration for the home team. Durham kept themselves out of danger with some superb defending from Lucy Burton-Brown and Chloe Threadgold whilst keeping the pressure on Hallam with some smooth link play. Despite having many attacking plays and numerous goal scoring opportunities Durham went into half time on a 0-0 scoreline.
Confidence was high for the palatinates at the start of the second half as they maintained their level of play from the previous 35 minutes. After a number of fouls in Durham’s defensive 25 Claudia Culley managed to escape being penalised as Flick Reid was shown the yellow card. Almost immediately afterwards Sheffield were given a yellow card for a similar offence meaning both teams were down to 10 players. Durham showed no signs of being affected by the recent events as outstanding individual play from Ele Morely set Sarah Bowey up and put Durham on the scoreboard. Soon afterwards Durham struck again and this time Ele Morely went one further doubling the palatinates lead. Sheffield upped their game and after a dubious tackle in Durham’s defensive circle a penalty flick was awarded and Hallam closed the gap making it 2-1. Durham lost concentration for 5 minutes allowing Sheffield’s feisty centre player room to work with and as a result the score line was levelled at 2-2. Durham fought hard to the end with tremendous work rate from the whole team but were beaten by the clock as the game ended 2-2.