BEN Rhydding’s two first teams returned to action last weekend after a lengthy winter break, with both the men and women at home to Wakefield.

In the corresponding fixtures over in Wakefield at the start of the season, only the women returned with a point, but this time both Ben Rhydding teams took all three points on offer.

The women were on first and were quickly off the mark with a strike by Jess Triffitt in the first minute.

Lauren Davis equalised for Wakefield just before half-time but a strike right at the start of the second half by Beth Cordukes restored the lead for Ben Rhydding, who were then able to manage the game through to the 70-minute mark to take the points.

Then, under the late afternoon floodlights, the men played a cagey game.

For over an hour, Rhydding had the upper hand but the game was still locked at 0-0, before they finally broke through courtesy of two quick strikes by Callum Franks and Jez Notay.

That was followed by a tense eight minutes of pressure from Wakefield, but the Ben Rhydding men held out to take the three points.

Both the men and women continue to sit in fourth place in their league tables, the England Hockey League Conference North and the Investec Women’s Hockey League Division 1 North respectively.

The women have the long trip to Gloucester today and the men travel on Sunday to Brooklands in Manchester.