While the Women’s 1st XI were narrowly beaten 1–0 away at Leicester City.

Ben Rhydding men's 1st XI travelled to Durham full of confidence and delivered a controlled, clinical performance against a student side who had won their opening five matches.

Debutant Alec Skelton made an immediate impact, setting up Kamran Harrison for the opener before scoring himself to put Rhydding 2–0 ahead inside 20 minutes.

Durham pulled one back shortly before half-time after birthday boy Ross McMillan misjudged an aerial ball, but that was a rare blemish in an otherwise excellent defensive display.

McMillan, Wil Jones and Freddie Graves formed a commanding back three, denying the North Easterners any meaningful momentum.

Will Musgrave marked his 40th birthday in style with another well-taken short corner, before Aaron Terry bundled home a fourth five minutes from time to seal a deserved 4–1 victory.

With a weekend off now approaching, McMillan and Musgrave can celebrate their birthdays properly; a year older perhaps, but their experience and quality remain invaluable to this Ben Rhydding side.

The Women’s 1st XI were left to reflect on a cruel final moment as they fell to a narrow 1–0 defeat at Leicester City.

In an evenly matched first half, both sides created chances and won short corners, but resolute defending kept the scoreboard level.

The physical intensity was evident, with each team receiving a green card as neither side gave an inch.

Leicester came closest before the break, seeing an effort flash narrowly wide, but the teams went in at 0–0.

The home side started the second half strongly and took the lead from a well-worked short corner, with a decisive deflection beating the Ben Rhydding defence.

Rhydding responded admirably, applying sustained pressure in search of an equaliser.

Chances came and went, but Leicester’s defence stood firm.

The drama stretched to the final whistle; Kirsty Goodbold won a late short corner, and after Chloe Cundick’s effort and Rachel Scott’s deflection drifted inches wide, Ben Rhydding were left agonisingly short.

Despite the result, there were plenty of positives.

This was a disciplined, determined performance against a strong Leicester side, with very little separating the teams across an entertaining contest.