Leek CSOB Ladies F.C returned to league action on Sunday, at home to Stoke Town Ladies F.C, with both teams placed around mid-table in the league going in to the match.

Leek were faced with a tough task before the match even began, as, due to work commitments, they could only field 10 players. However, this did not stop Leek from building on the improvements that they have been making over the course of the season so far, putting in to the practice what had been talked about and also worked upon in training.

Stoke Town made the extra number count early in the first half and got themselves in to the lead. A further two goals were scored during the first half, but Leek pulled one back just before half-time with a great strike from Eden Gibson, whose hard work down the left wing had been rewarded with a deserved goal. Defensively also, Leek were really impressive, and the hard work that they have been doing at training with Stoke City Ladies F.C captain Cass Hyde was showing well.

Leek started the second half really well, playing some great passing football and creating plenty of chances, but it was Stoke Town who scored their fourth goal of the match against the run of play. Work commitments struck again, as Leek had to finish the last 15 minutes of the match with 9 players, but Leek again looked like the better team, like they have pretty much throughout the match, and their second goal of the match came in the last few minutes when Becci Neale dispossessed the Stoke Town defender, and passed the ball through to Becky Bloor to cooly finish. The match finished Leek CSOB Ladies F.C 2 Stoke Town Ladies F.C 4, and straight after the match, the Stoke Town manager came over to the Leek Ladies to praise them and tell them that Leek deserved to actually win the match.

Manager Phil Bruce was really proud of his players, saying "We came in to the match under the worst situation possible due to players having work commitments, however, the work that each player put in and how well they all played just shows what a fantastic team we are, and just how committed we are to each other and to the project that we have in place. Today was literally the case of Stoke Town making the extra numbers count. It has been fantastic to see the level of improvement that we have already made so far this season, and it will keep on getting better and better. We have got everything in place now for this to happen"

Vice captain and team secretary Becky Bloor was voted player-of-the-match, and she was really impressed with the performance of the team and feels confident that the good performances will turn in to points on the table. She says "The result doesn't reflect the performance the ladies put in today. With only 10 players available, we dominated the majority of the game and were unlucky not to score more. If we put in performances like that every week, the results will come our way. Well done to all the girls"

Leek CSOB Ladies F,C have not got a match next week, but hopefully they will be playing a friendly match or training instead, and then they return to league action the following week, away against Kidsgrove Athletic Ladies F.C, 2pm kick-off.