A DAZZLING sidestep from England international Tara Stanley in pouring rain decided the first ever women’s rugby league title in Europe to carry prize money.The York City Knights star star glided through the Leeds defence after seven minutes at AJ Bell Stadium in the RFL Women’s Nines final to bag a converted try in the bonus zone – she did the converting too – and that was the end of the scoring.There were wild scenes at fulltime as the progressive Yorkshire club celebrated an historic trophy win, which earlier saw them eliminate 13-a-side giants St Helens 26-0.“I just seized the opportunity,” Stanley said modestly.“The Leeds Rhinos women, they’re amazing. They’ve won trophies and even though we were up at halftime, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”In a landmark development for the women’s game, the Knights will get 40 per cent of a small prize purse, believed to be mid-range four-figures. It is the Northern Hemisphere women’s game’s first step towards professionalism.The competition began on May 1 in Warrington with 20 clubs and concluded today with six, Huddersfield and Warrington eliminated in group play, while Catalans and St Helens bowed out in the semis.It was the second major Nines event in the UK in eight days, following last week’s successful London Nines.Group matches:St Helens 12 Huddersfield 4York 16 Catalans 8Leeds 29 Huddersfield 6Catalans 22 Warrington 7Leeds 26 St Helens 0York 37 Warrington 0Semi-finals:Leeds 23 Catalans 7York 26 St Helens 0Final:York 7 Leeds 0Image: John Clifton/SWpix
