There were limited League fixtures in last weekend’s women’s football programme due to various League Cup competitions.

Bradford (Park Avenue) were at Silsden for a rearranged West Riding County Premier Division game.

Avenue produced an excellent performance that kept the opposition quiet. Silsden battled hard but Bradford were clinical in front of goal with some outstanding finishing to record a 4–1 victory, with goals from Kerry Brannan, Nat Bell (2) and Jade Nelson.

Thackley were close to being back to a full-strength squad when they travelled to Leeds Medics and Dentists.

The Dennygirls dominated possession, playing some lovely football and creating plenty of chances. The defence looked organised, Player of the match Jess Dunlop did a great job in midfield and Lois Cooper had a few chances to put Thackley ahead. On the half-hour mark, Thackley took a well-deserved lead as skipper Megan Butterworth ran through the middle of the pitch, calmly slotting home. But, minutes before half time, Medics equalised from a corner.

The second half continued with both teams fighting and pushing for the win with Thackley getting plenty of chances to do so. However with five minutes to go, and against the run of play, a Leeds Medics counter saw them slot home the winner.

Next Sunday, Avenue are at Medics’ Weetwood base, Brighouse Sports entertain Morley Town, Skipton Town host Sherburn White Rose and Thackley are at Silsden. Our local County First and Second teams are all at home, as Ilkley Town Firsts play Republica Internationale, Athletico play Horsforth, Bradford City’s u21s play Rangers and Queensbury Celtic entertain Knaresborough Town.

There were some County Third games the previous weekend, Bradford United at Leeds Hyde Park Seconds, who started well to take the lead. However United played a through ball to equalise, keeping up the pressure to score another. But Hyde Park came back fighting with an equaliser before the break.

In the second half, Hyde Park went 4–2 in front from a corner and an unreal goal from the edge of the box. In the final few minutes, Bradford scored a third but it was a 4–3 loss.

The first half of Field's game against Farsley Juniors’ Reserves didn’t have many clear-cut chances, a game for both goalkeepers, who made some fine saves to keep their teams in the game.

After half-time, chances came for Field, only for the opposition keeper to deny them and keep Farsley in the game. Eventually the deadlock was broken, and Field took the lead through Ami Nolan’s belting free-kick that their goalkeeper had no chance of saving. Nolan produced another moment of magic with a corner that sneaked in at the near post. The visitors pulled a goal back with a brilliant solo effort from opposition winger Chloë Sunter. For the final 15 minutes, Field battled hard for their 2–1 victory.

Tyersal’s visitors Harrogate Railway Reserves got the ball forward pretty well, especially on the left-hand side, where April Kennedy had a great game terrorising Tyersal’s right-back. Mid-way through the first half, Harrogate scored for a 1–0 advantage at the break.

The second half saw Railway get an early second goal, with three more before the final whistle for a 5–0 loss for Tyersal.

Next weekend, Bradford United host Kinsley, Field play Skipton devs and Tyersal are at Lower Hopton Development.

The West Riding County Cup, Preliminary Round on October 15th sees the following fixtures: Halifax Friendly v. Ripon; Ilkley v. Farsley Celtic Women; Republica v. Skipton; Wortley v. Silsden.

The FA Cup, Third Round Qualifying stage on October 22 sees Leeds United playing Chester.

Hoping to join them, Farsley Junior Ladies saw lots of chances at League rivals York RI. But mid-way through the first half, a cracking strike, shortly followed by a chip over the keeper, saw Farsley 2–0 down. However Farsley’s captain produced a great strike from 25 yards into the top corner to make it 2–1 at the break.

The second half saw each team battling to score another goal. The last couple of minutes saw Farsley pushing forward in search of an equaliser, a great save the only thing preventing another penalty shoot-out.

Bradford City’s u19s have made a good start to their second season in the Community & Education Football Alliance, the ‘A’ team winning both their opener 6–0 at Everton, and a Cup group game 6–1 at Stoke. There was also a fantastic performance from the ‘B’ team at home to Birmingham City, with a second-half equaliser from substitute Summer Hughes.

Elsewhere, local teenager Mia Enderby, who has recently signed for Liverpool, passed a late fitness test before coming on as a second-half substitute in their game at Arsenal. Her Super League début took place in front of a record FAWSL crowd of 54,115 at the Emirates, dedicating Liverpool’s brilliant 1–0 victory to her former team-mate at Sheffield United, Maddy Cusack.