Huddersfield Town Women captain Beth Stanfield reflects on ‘frustrating’ derby defeat to Leeds United

Stanfield and her side lost 1-0 in front of 933 fans at the Accu Stadium

Town Women captain Beth Stanfield rued a lapse in concentration and lack of creativity as Leeds United won the first derby of the season 1-0.

A late Amy Woodruff goal five minutes from time snatched the three points.

After a bright start, the game quickly turned into defence versus attack. Town looked for a way through a resolute Leeds low block.

On the few occasions they did find a way through, they failed to find the right pass with Ella Duffield and Rebecca Beresford failing to find teammates with crosses.

With the visitors happy to sit in and look for chances on the break, they almost took the lead but Chloe Dixon sliced an effort wide from close range before Woodruff forced a fingertip save from Bethan Davies.

Town looked like a team that had been struggling with fitness, with Laura Elford just back from a knock and Beth Ibbotson back after an injury. They seemed leggy throughout.

Despite that, they had all of the ball, but just couldn’t break through. Inevitably, Leeds did. With five minutes to go Town switched off as Amy Woodruff picked up the ball from a throw-in, cut inside the box, fired into the bottom corner and left Davies rooted to the spot to seal the win.

After the game Stanfield admitted Leeds’ approach caught them by surprise. She told We Are Terriers: “It’s frustrating, to be honest. Leeds set up very defensively, which we weren’t expecting. They made it really difficult for us to play through them and break them down. So it was quite frustrating.

“We had to be quite patient but we just didn’t get the final pass right or enough shots on goal. Then we switched off from a throw-in and they got in behind and it’s a good finish to be fair.”

In terms of the play, Town dominated. But Stanfield admits they didn’t get the basics right when it mattered.

She added: “Our decision-making in the final third was pretty poor. Where we could have cut crosses back or hit them low, we’ve looped them into the keeper.

“That’s why this league is so up and down and chaotic — anyone can beat anyone. It’s just one lapse in concentration and we’ve been punished for it.

“They’ve taken their chance and we’ve not done the same at the other end. I don’t think we did enough to create good scoring opportunities.”

One positive from the day was a crowd of 933 — something Stanfield wants to see more of.

She said: ”It was a really nice occasion. I really like playing here and the noise of the fans really makes a difference. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get a positive result.

“Hopefully if we’re back again we can try again and get a win here next time.”

Manager Glen Preston admitted his side are feeling the effects of injuries and is looking to add to the squad.

He said: “Today we needed a fully fit squad but we didn’t have it.

“Elford we maybe rushed back for this game and maybe needed another week. Beth Ibbotson I don’t think was right from the off. She got through last week but didn’t look right from the off so we had to bring her off at half-time.

“I think we were just carrying a few with injuries and with the four or five who are still out, it was just a bit much for us on this one.

“We’re hoping Fliss [Jones] will be back and Elford and Ibbotson can get their injuries sorted because these are big players that we need.

“As a result, we weren’t good enough today.”

With two cup games, a break from the league could be a blessing in disguise. Preston admits he’s looking to bring players in to bolster the squad, especially with Lauren Griffiths and Serena Fletcher looking to be out for another five or six weeks on top of the other niggles and knocks.

He told We Are Terriers: “We’ve got a very small squad. We haven’t yet been able to put out anything that we think resembles our best squad.

“We can’t get players in at the moment. No clubs are letting their top players go - and why would they?

“We don’t want to just sign anybody, we want top range players. We’ve approached one or two and we keep looking. So we’ll have to wait and see.”

With almost 1,000 in attendance, the day was bittersweet for Preston who, despite being happy to see the crowd, was disappointed with the display.

He added: “We’re delighted with the turnout. We’re really disappointed for the fans that we couldn’t put on a better performance. Leeds killed the game and made it really slow so it was difficult to give the crowd much to cheer about.

“I’m disappointed we haven’t been able to give them much more but we’re so grateful they’ve turned out for us.”

Town line up: Bethan Davies; Alise Gindre, Autumn Housley, Beth Ibbotson (Louise Biggins 46’), Rebecca Beresford; Ella Duffield, Beth Stanfield (C); Hannah Burgess, Rhea Lord-Mears, Kate Mallin; Laura Elford (Molly Firth 88’)

Unused subs: Evie Franks, Brierley Keane, Francesca Brown

Bookings: Beth Ibbotson 44’, Laura Elford 54’

Next up for Town Women is a game back at the Stafflex Arena as they take on Loughborough in the FAWNL cup.