Brighouse delight at title success

Brighouse travelled to struggling Sheffield Wednesday Ladies knowing a point would secure the North East Regional South title.

However, Town went one better and secured the win which saw them lift the silverware in style.

Town made good use of the quality surface to put together a couple of good moves but forced the ball in the final third leaving everyone a little frustrated.

Leading scorer Sonni Sweeney, who was looking in fine form, finally gave her side the lead when Yasmin Ayub played a superb ball in between two defenders. Sweeney drew the ‘keeper before expertly slotting in at the near post to take her tally to 34 for the season.

Town nearly added a second when Sweeney’s initial shot was spilled by the ‘keeper, but the in-form forward was unable to direct the rebound in to a teammates path with the goal gaping.

Wednesday cranked up the pressures with a couple of corners in quick succession that were well dealt with by the Town defence.

The second half was more of the same, plenty of good passing football without an end product and a lack of quality in the final third.

Sheffield countered well but a change in system seemed to nullify the threat and give Town more attacking options themselves as Sue Elrington moved up front to support Sweeney.

Kayleigh Bamforth’s darting runs were causing problems, the first saw her beat her marker before rounding the ‘keeper only to be foiled by a recovering defender. The second saw a cross in to Sweeney who narrowly fired wide from close range.

Wednesday had their first real opportunity when a cross from the right was met by Danielle Harrison, but the substitute smashed her effort over the bar.

Manager Rob Mitchell said: “Massive congratulations to the team who have been superb all season and deserve all the credit.

“It’s a very proud moment for me to be able to see all the hard we’ve done rewarded and I’m sure the girls will now no doubt look to complete the season on a high and remain unbeaten.”