YORK Valkyrie director of rugby Lindsay Anfield admits that lifting a historic second consecutive Betfred Women’s Super League Leaders’ Shield in front of a home crowd was “really special”.
Having sealed back-to-back Shields with a 36-4 victory at Wigan Warriors three weeks prior, Anfield’s side were able to get their hands on the trophy in front of their home fans for the first time on Sunday following the conclusion of their final regular season match against Huddersfield Giants.
Despite the York Knights’ clash with Bradford Bulls at Odsal kicking off at the same time, the Valkyrie were backed by a record 1,213 fans at the LNER Community Stadium, with Anfield pleased to see such fantastic support.
“What a great day just for women’s rugby league!” she enthused.
“It was a great game for the Under 19s. I think Wigan, they’ve gone unbeaten all year, so for our girls to put in a really good performance there, that was pleasing for the club especially.
“And then our girls had a really good game against Huddersfield. I don’t think that the scoreline actually reflected how tough the game was and I’m sure that Huddersfield are going to go from strength to strength in the off-season, so credit to them.
“It felt like a long time coming that we’d actually lift the Shield, and the girls and myself have really enjoyed it.
“It was really special [to lift the trophy in front of a home crowd]. It was just a great concept to allow us to lift it here.
“We’ve only been successful for a couple of years so to be able to attract the crowd and attract the fans in to see that is really important for us, our development and getting our brand out there.
“It’s been a really good day.”
The Valkyrie were utterly dominant against the Giants, leading 32-0 at half-time before scoring a further 28 points after the interval.
Though rocked by an Emilia Brown score in the opening stages of the second half, York had no issues scoring points thereafter to crown their biggest league points total of the season.
“I thought that the first half an hour, we were really good and we started showing the fluency that we’re getting in training, “she explained.
“Then I threw a few challenges in there and it didn’t really go to plan, that’s why it probably went wayward a little bit. But then I thought in the last 20 minutes, they picked it back up again.
“We’re just looking for a whole performance to take to the Grand Final and to hopefully compete well for that trophy. That’s the aim of what we’re using that game for.”
A 12-12 draw against reigning Grand Final champions Leeds Rhinos was the only blot on the Valkyrie’s flawless league record this season, handing them a crucial home draw in the Play-offs.
York will now host Wigan Warriors in their Semi Final on September 23 (3:30pm). Should they progress, they will advance to the Grand Final, which will also take place in the city on October 8 (3pm).
“[Going unbeaten for the whole season], that’s really great,” Anfield admitted. “The hard work that the girls put in hopefully is evident to people watching, that their athleticism and their commitment produces performances like that.
“The training that we’re going to do, it’s going to be evident that the last game is the pinnacle as the sport’s created.
“But that’s good that we’ve got a play-off game at home, hopefully we should have this atmosphere again and to take us to the Grand Final if we can get past Wigan, so it’s exciting.”
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