York City Knights 26 Leeds Rhinos Women 28: Late penalty puts Rhinos in Challenge Cup final

The nail-biting semi-final finished 28-26 and it took a 71st-minute penalty from Courtney Winfield-Hill to separate the two teams. Centre Chloe Kerrigan was the pick of the try scorers with two on the day while further tries were scored by Alex Barnes, Hanna Butcher and Natasha Gaines. Leeds made a poor start and were 6-0 down without having made a tackle after the ball was lost from the kick-off and Tara Jane Stanley arced around the cover to score. Kerrigan claimed her first try after half-back Georgia Roche had created the chance with a short pass.

Rhinos couldn’t gain full control, however, and were then reeling from three tries conceded in seven minutes.

Kerrigan kick-started the comeback with her second try and Leeds took the lead for the first time, interchange Barnes crashing over then Butcher bursting through the scrambling defence for her score. Winfield-Hill converted from the touchline to give Leeds a 20-12 interval break.

Much like the first half, York scored a try almost immediately from the whistle and were soon back in contention. Unperturbed by losing their lead, Leeds hit back instantly. This time it was York’s turn to drop the kick off and, from the scrum the effervescent Fran Goldthorp attacked the York edge defence before finding Gaines unmarked on the right wing who dived over in the corner. Crucially Winfield-Hill again was able to convert the try from the sideline. After the Gaines try York took the ascendency and had the lion’s share of the territory and possession in the final 30 minutes. The York pressure paid off as they got their fourth try on the hour mark to bring the scores level once again. At 2- all, York almost took the lead with 13 minutes to go but Leeds’ scrambling defence did its job and minutes later Winfield-Hill kicked the winning penalty from 30 metres out.

Saints book their place in the final with an 82-0 win over Featherstone Rovers.