Cleobury Ladies 3

Leeds 2

Cleobury continued their winning streak in National League Division Two at home against newcomers Leeds.

The win was the club's fourth in a row, but they had to work hard to secure victory in a tight five-set match.

Leeds took an easy first set thanks mainly to the errors of Cleobury who seemed unable to put a ball back over the net. The performance warranted a drumming but in the end Cleobury managed to pull it back to lose the set a respect-able 25:17.

The second set was thankfully a different story, Cleobury found their passes, Ellie Boddey steadying the backcourt and Clare Jones improvising at the net to avoid the intimidating 6ft block of the Leeds defender. Once Cleobury started to play Leeds looked unable to match it and Cleobury took the set comfortably 25:18.

The third set was much tighter but again went Cleobury's way. Sophie Cooke punished Leeds from the service line with low, hard driven deliveries whilst Becky Brookes and Clare Jones linked up repeatedly to out think the slowing Leeds block. It was far from plain sailing though as the ball in remained inconsistent and Cleobury's wing hitters failed to match the scoring prowess of the middles. Final set score a tight 25:23.

Leeds continued their steady form in the fourth whereas Cleo-bury again stopped playing. Leeds took an early 15:6 lead and despite effective power hitting from switched position captain Lynsey Rankin Cleobury could not recover. Game on as Leeds took the set 25:20.

Cleobury started the fifth strongly turning round 8:4 ahead. This was the crucial part of the match though with Cleobury nervously reminded of the two previous defeats which had been from this controlling position.

Again Cleobury faltered as the finishing tape came into view and Leeds levelled at 14 all. It was to be third time lucky though and Cleobury won the set 16:14.

Another win but another forgettable performance!