Leeds United Women are searching for “something to be proud of”, head coach Simon Wood says, as they reach for the finish line of a season they weren’t expecting.

The only way should have been up following a successful first term under Rick Passmoor, but the manager’s sudden departure for the bright lights of the Women’s Super League took the wind out of their sails, and hope of sustaining his legacy was gone by November, as United exited the cup competitions that brought them joy last year.

That was then, Wood seems to say, this is now. It was always going to be tough, but let’s make the most of it. A season of thriving in spite of the circumstances. United’s battles with winter persist. In recent seasons, a home ground situated on a flood plain has hampered United’s efforts to gather momentum, but even since relocating to Garforth Town, the Whites’ league campaign remains disjointed due to the state of pitches both home and away.

I’d love to give an alien the Division One North table, or any number of lower league division ladders, and see if they can make sense of all the numbers which don’t seem to bear any relation to each other. At the moment, teams in United’s division have played between 12 and 16 games, meaning any question of who is in the lead or how much work there is to do is complicated by ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’. Leeds can only top this lopsided league table by manifesting several rivals’ imperfections while keeping themselves flawless.

In the face of all that, the County Cup appeared a fruitful avenue to salvage some excitement from a season in which unity and direction was swiped from beneath them at the outset. United caused a stir with their comprehensive defeat of eleventh-tier Brighouse Town Juniors; their performance praised and a competition which pits such poles-apart sides against each other called into question. There was no opportunity for the logic of West Riding County Cup to be vindicated, though, because after the livestream of United’s demolition of Brighouse was littered with abuse, footage of the semi-final it earned them never materialised.

Again, Leeds found a challenging playing surface away at Leeds Modernians, but the bog couldn’t stop their quick passing game or the heavyweights taking the lead against their seventh-tier opponents. United could have had one foot in the final by the interval had chances for Sarah Danby, Rachel Hindle and Alice Hughes found the net, while United captain Olivia Smart rattled the crossbar – but Leeds had just a goal advantage at the interval.

Next, Modernians made a strong case for everyone playing everyone, defying the usual lower-ranked side’s destiny with a sprinkle of cup magic. Captain Tanya Fozzard shifted the balance of the tie by throwing herself in the path of Whites goalkeeper Abi Megeary’s clearance to snatch an equaliser. One defensive mix-up and a zippy counter-attack later, the Mods had stolen United’s consolation for a tricky season – their place in the County Cup final.

Leeds’ chance to forget the disappointment ASAP was stolen too, as their midweek league fixture against struggling York City was cancelled after a gush of rain. They were then tasked with putting themselves back together again in the challenging WoSo heartlands of the North East, where United expected a game full of “graft” away at Norton and Stockton Ancients.

Historic tyrant of the Division One North goalscoring charts Bianca Owens was back in the Ancients armband this weekend after a season helping Newcastle United earn promotion. The Magpies’ relentless success train took off faster than Owens could keep up, forcing the Ancients veteran to return to her former club in order to get a game. While Owens was trying and failing to score goals against Leeds United this Sunday, Newcastle were booking a place in the FAWNL Cup final in front of 22,000+ at St James’ Park, the stadium adorned with giant flags bearing the face of manager Becky Langley and a sea of black and white scarves. Leeds aren’t the only ones settling into new realities. Newcastle, too, will have to adjust to the departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth, a key player in the Magpies’ recent ascent.

If Leeds hope to attack the clean slate as best as they can at the start of next season, manager Simon Wood sees no reason they can’t practise starting afresh right now. The mantle handed to players before their return to league action at Norton was to “re-set”. Leonie Price, in good form, gave the response that a tough loss requires, creating consistently and only being denied her fifth goal in four appearances by the crossbar.

Despite the pitch’s best efforts to slow Katie Astle’s shot down to a standstill, United took a 1-0 lead into the break for the second successive week. It was a job half done but, if Leeds were traumatised by the collapse of their County Cup semi-final, they didn’t show it.

Manager Wood has spoken a lot about making sure Leeds finish their chances lately. Failure to do so was fatal at Modernians, and it might have been again on Sunday. But a newly-configured back line weathered late bombardments from Norton to preserve all three points and secure United’s first league clean sheet since September.

Next up, Leeds travel to County Durham for one last party in the north east. Last season, Durham Cestria missed out on promotion on goal difference alone. Like Leeds, they’ve got points to make up this time; winning their game in hand against United would put them within one point of league leaders Middlesbrough. ⬢