A tough start for Doncaster

It was a different proposition than the game played two weeks ago, with Leopold fielding a stronger side and Doncaster with three new players.

Leopold were out of the blocks much quicker than Doncaster and within 5 minutes they were 2-0 to the good. Doncaster hadn't had time to settle and didn't really know what had hit them. However, their heads didn't go down and they soon halted the onslaught with some fine defending and closing down in midfield.

Leopold did add another before half time and it was a testament to Doncaster's resolve that in the 30 minutes following the second goal Leopold were only able to add one more.

It was a credit to Leopold that in the second half they stepped up their game even more and outplayed Doncaster, adding another 5 goals. The scoreline may have been increased if it wasn't for player of the match Abi Dixon's goalkeeping. On a number of occasions she had to be on her toes to prevent Leopold adding to their tally.

It has to be said that, on this performance, you would back Leopold to be in contention for promotion come the end of the season.

It wasn't all gloom and doom for Doncaster, with another strong performance from Verena Schoenfeld in midfield, who never stopped running. There were two players making their debut, Paige King and Jane Allen, both of whom acquitted themselves admirably.

A late addition to the squad was Saskia Shakesheff, the regular goalkeeper for the third team, who were without a game this week, playing an outfield role in place of injured Ali Brocklebank-Lambert.

Other player of the match nominations were Verena Schoenfeld, Paige King, Paige Taylor, Saskia Shakesheff and Kerry Haslam.

Doncaster's next match is against Sheffield Hallam 4, where they can hopefully kick start their season.