Leeds United Women were happy to get a clean slate with the turn of the calendar. In their final four games of 2023, United took three defeats, cutting off the main sources of joy of their last campaign as they exited both the FAWNL Cup and the FA Cup. Manager Simon Wood knew it was important the Whites made a statement with their return to the pitch against Doncaster Rovers Belles on Sunday.

“We’ve got a really good group of players,” he said. “We know that at times in the first part of the season, we probably haven’t performed how we wanted to perform. But it’s a tough league and when you have a break in fixtures, you’re looking for that good performance to come back in.”

Coming back to anything after a long break isn’t easy. I played my first full ninety since October on Sunday and woke up on Monday morning feeling like an exhumed bag of someone else’s bones which had been put back together with rusting split pins. Granted, United might have done a better job of oiling their hinges over the festive break, but anyone still picking mince pie crumbs out of their beard as they launched a Zoom call on the morning of the second of January might imagine that putting your boots on the right feet is about as good a start as one could hope to make after six weeks out of action.

Since Leeds last kicked a ball, they’ve said goodbye to two stars of United’s FAWNL Plate-winning team as Danielle Whitham and Abbie Brown have moved on to new challenges, while the challenges at Whites’ former home ground, Tadcaster’s So-Trak Stadium, were the same as ever, joining many parts of the UK in becoming a puddle and foregrounding the sense of Leeds’ summer transfer to the Bannister Prentice in Garforth. The six-week limbo could’ve been longer without it.

It’s a new year, but it’s the same Jess Rousseau. Like the rest of us, she made a slow start, hitting her first big chance straight at the ‘keeper. But Rousseau’s idea of a slow start means erring once, then getting it right when the ball boings back at you, burying the rebound and unhelpfully raising the bar for the laptop-shy everywhere.

With midfield maestro Danielle ‘Spud’ Whitham gone, the sight of Alice Hughes back in white after a stint at league rivals York City was glorious. The Aitana Bonmati-wannabe nearly marked her return by finishing off a team goal Barcelona would be proud of, but premature cheers turned to disappointment as her first-time strike flew the wrong side of the far post.

United rued the missed opportunity when Belles’ Izzy Gigg raced toward Abi Megeary, who was making her first appearance in net for Leeds United. It takes time to establish yourself at a new club, but Megeary has protected herself from any undue judgement on her skills by pinning a video of a superb stop to the top of her Twitter profile with instructions for everyone: ‘Before you call me shit just take a look at this’.

Advancing on goal, Gigg looked more concerned with scorin’ than cussin’. Though the newbie got a hand to it, Gigg’s shot was too strong and levelled the score, leaving Megeary frustrated with the two teammates who allowed Gigg to wriggle clear in the first place. As Leeds let Donny take the reins, Megeary meant business, storming out of her box to meet a loose ball, but one neat touch by Jasmine Saxton left the ‘keeper flailing on the edge of the area while the open net invited Saxton to send the Belles into half time with a goal lead.

Leeds United haven’t done well from losing positions so far this campaign. On both occasions when they’ve trailed at half-time they’ve gone on to lose. But failing to recover from setbacks is so last year. United might have let go of a lead, but they had all the wisdom of sixteen players plus coaching staff to come up with a solution.

Meanwhile, in the Donny dressing room, the consensus must have been that the solution to the problem of Sian Gibrill-Keating being in their penalty area was bringing her to ground. What the visitors forgot, though, is that Kath Smith has played the role of ‘solution’ countless times before, and dispatches from the spot with hardly any bother.

With the scores level, it was time for Leeds to play their trump card. Izzy Elliott gave crossing the ball into top scorer Jess Rousseau a good go, but it was with Olivia Smart’s floater that Rousseau nodded Leeds into the lead again and, this time, she celebrated with feeling as her brace sent her top of the Division One North in-all-competitions scoring chart.

Not content to stop there, Rousseau made a fourth goal for Leeds when being a general nuisance forced Belles ‘keeper Eleanor Sharpe to leave her goal wide open and the ball not properly cleared. Playing higher up the pitch, the shackles were off Sarah Danby, who struck with instinct, her flying shot converted by the Garforth bog into a pea-roller which bounded and bobbled over the line to double United’s lead.

“The net’s probably broken now ’cause it was that hard,” Danby joked after the final whistle sealed United’s winning start to the year, leapfrogging Stockport County into 4th place. Next Sunday, they’ll be tested away at 3rd-placed Middlesbrough, a six-pointer against the side that disrupted their winning start to the season back in September. ⬢