Only one team has ever won the Sheffield & Hallamshire Women’s County Cup four times in a row – Sheffield Women lifted the trophy on four occasions between 2011 and 2015.

Huddersfield Town Women now have the opportunity to match the record held by Sheffield Women. After winning the County Cup for the past three seasons, Huddersfield Town Women will go head-to-head with Sheffield United Women Under 21s at the New York Stadium to see if they can match the record of four in a row.

The County Cup is an opportunity for the better sides in the Yorkshire area to flex their muscles, blood their youngsters, and find some form as they head towards the business end of the season.

The following article will take a closer look at Huddersfield Town Women’s journey to the 2024/25 Women’s County Cup Final, providing detailed analysis and statistics, as well as adding valuable context about games taking place during the cup run.

Only playing one fixture in the entire month of January, Huddersfield Town Women began their County Cup campaign with a 2-0 win against Rotherham United Women.

Hosting the Millers at the Stafflex Arena, Huddersfield Town welcomed striker Katie Astle to the club, as she appeared in the matchday squad for the first time since joining from York City earlier that month. Rotherham United play their league football in a division below Huddersfield Town but with a strong away support travelling up the M1, it was obvious that the South Yorkshire side were desperate to try and cause an early upset and knock out the reigning champions.

Using the game as an opportunity to provide minutes to members in the squad who weren’t always in the starting eleven, Huddersfield Town manager Glen Preston made a handful of changes to his side. Experienced back-up goalkeeper, Lauren Joyce laced up her boots and stuck her gloves on to make her third appearance of the 2024/25 season.

Whilst Town also named a completely different front three to the one that started in their last fixture against Stockport County. Leah Embley, Kate Mallin, and Yasmin Mason all rotated out of the side to be replaced by the youthful trio of Molly Firth, Scarlett McMahon, and Ashley Tiripke.

Town set up in their standard 4-3-3 formation, although when in possession it appeared closer to a 2-4-3-1 shape on the field, with the wingbacks pushing higher up the field.

Pacey wide player, Yasmin Mason started the game at left-back for Town, but it became quickly apparent that her speed in transition was going to be an issue for Rotherham. Town doubled up on the left, as Mason and Tiripke continually danced their way around lost-looking Miller’s defender Amanda Millar.

Showing the difference in the levels between the two sides, Town began the game on top. Mason and Firth were both supplying some fantastic crosses into the box that were begging to be stuck into the net by one of their teammates.

The first notable chance fell to the feet of Tiripke, who toe-poked an effort towards goal but it caused no trouble for the Rotherham goalkeeper. Unfortunately, that was all that Tiripke could contribute before being withdrawn from the field with a suspected shoulder injury, as she was replaced by the legendary figure of Kate Mallin.

As expected, Mallin took over all set-piece taking duties and delivered some wicked balls into the danger area, but Town did not take advantage of any of them.

A triple substitution at half-time was exactly what Town needed to break the deadlock. Firth had moved from Town’s right wing to left back. Overlapping down the left flank, Firth made a deep run towards the back post, where Mallin laid a perfect ball for the youngster to tap the Terriers ahead.

It could and potentially should have been two goals for Town moments later as club top-scorer Charlotte Stuart couldn’t glance substitute Leah Embley’s cross towards goal.

Katie Astle came on to the field in blue and white for the first time, and almost had a dream start to her Huddersfield Town career. The ball dropped to her just six yards from goal, a perfect opportunity for the poacher, but Astle’s strike was miscued and ended being a tame effort that was lapped up by the outstretched arms of the Rotherham goalkeeper.

Thankfully, Town’s number nine got her goal with just one minute left of the 90. Embley cut in from the right side and unselfishly sent the ball across to Astle at the back post, who smashed the ball into the net with a first-time finish, delivering a definitive blow in the tie and confirming Town’s place in the next round of the County Cup.

Assistant Manager James Horner said: “There was definitely a bit of rustiness. Coming back after Christmas we didn’t get many training sessions in and obviously, we haven’t had any matchdays with all of the cancellations.

“We struggled a little bit in the first 45 minutes, and you could tell that it was made a lot harder with Rotherham being structured and well set-up.

“Katie’s goal was a big positive for us. It’s also probably good for her to get her first goal in and out of the way.

“In terms of other positives, I think in the second half, players came on and made a real difference and impact. That’s a testament to them, after that first half, for improving us.”

Rolling into the next round, Huddersfield Town Women had been drawn against minnows Handsworth Ladies who really were hoping on some cup magic to try and come away with a result from the Stafflex Arena.

Town delivered a destructive display at home, putting nine goals past Handsworth. Ashley Tiripke was the star for Glen Preston’s side, scoring a hattrick in 39 minutes, and adding a fourth just before the hour mark.

Elsewhere, Rebecca Beresford got her name on the scoresheet, Astle found the net in the County Cup once again, Beth Ibbotson and Charlotte Stuart each grabbed a goal, and Molly Firth claimed Town’s ninth of the afternoon.

Manager Glen Preston said: “It was just a professional performance.

“We said before the start of the game to both Ashley (Tiripke), and Molly (Firth) ‘go show what you can do’, their opportunities have been a bit limited, they have got to remember that they are young pups, and this is their breakthrough season. It’s always a little bit stop start for them; they have got to mature into this level.

“These County Cup games are a really good opportunities for them to showcase themselves and they have both done themselves proud today.

“Ash scored four fantastic goals, so well done to her for that.

“We have won this competition for four years, and it’s a competition we are proud of winning. It’s a competition that I think this year will be tougher than ever. There are more teams that are more than capable of winning it this time round.”

Huddersfield Town drew Worksop out of the hat in the next round. Sadly, Worksop couldn’t raise a side to face Huddersfield Town, potentially partly down to what they had just seen what Handsworth experienced.

Regardless, Town went into the next round, the quarterfinals against Doncaster Rovers Belles.

Taking place at Denaby Main, Town travelled to take on Doncaster Rovers Belles for a place in the County Cup semifinals.

Both teams struggled early on, as the bobbly pitch wasn’t allowing either of them to get the ball on the deck and play any attractive football. The bouncing ball caused an early claim for a penalty to Doncaster, but the referee didn’t seem interested.

Firth and Tiripke both had efforts inside the box, but both sailed wide of the mark, whilst McMahon headed an effort towards goal but her powerful header was well matched by a confident save from the Doncaster keeper.

Caz Simone put the West Yorkshire outfit ahead with a special lob from outside the box that soared over the goalkeeper and found the back of the net. There were appeals against Simone, claiming the midfielder was in an offside position when they received the ball, but the assistant referee’s flag remained still as Town took the lead.

Hungry for more, Town continued to press forward. Mallin delivered a ball into the box that was met by the tall figure of Ibbotson, but the defender crashed her header wide.

Town would rue their missed chances as Doncaster pulled an equaliser back late on. Joyce misread the flight of the ball, as it bounced over the Town keeper, and Autumn Housley couldn’t do enough on the line to keep out Holly Findlay’s strike.

With the game even at full-time the game went to a nervy penalty shoot-out. Doncaster went ahead, scoring their first penalty, and Astle missed the target with Town’s first. Thankfully, after her blunder earlier in the game, Joyce stepped up to be the hero for the Terriers.

First saving Marelle Carlisle’s spot kick, and then more importantly tipping Laila Abadi’s strike on to the post, Joyce put Town’s fate at the feet of Ella Duffield. Needing to score to put Town through, Duffield stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, causing all sorts of celebrations from the Town squad.

Manager Glen Preston said: “It’s not the way we would have wanted to have won it but we’re happy we’re through.

“It wasn’t our best performance, but the conditions and the pitch didn’t make it easy or possible to either side to play any football.

“I felt we grew into the game and got better. We were on top for the majority of the game although I don’t want to see their equalising goal again if I can help it.

“She [Joyce] pulled off two great saves. I didn’t know she had this in her, but she was playing some mind games which you don’t always see at this level. But it’s worked in her favour. The second save onto the post to win it was brilliant.”

One game away from the final – just 90 minutes. Huddersfield Town got to the semi-finals having scored 12 goals and conceding only once. Now they faced their toughest opposition – Barnsley Women. Although they aren’t in Town’s division, they are level in the football pyramid, and not only that, but also pushing for promotion in their league.

On the road once again, Town were without their top scorer Charlotte Stuart who had picked up an ankle injury a couple of weeks earlier. Despite that, the Terriers were still able to play a strong side in the cup semi-final.

After applying pressure in the early stages, Town found their breakthrough. Youngster Ashley Tiripke twisted and turned into the box on the left wing before cutting the ball back onto her right foot. With a chance to get a shot on goal, Tiripke instead chose to slip the ball across the area to the wide-open Autumn Housley, who laced the ball into the bottom right corner.

Capitalising on their offensive strengths, the away side doubled their lead just before half-time. Yasmin Mason burst beyond the right full back and, like Tiripke, squared the ball back across the box for Fliss Jones to score her first goal for the club.

Town and Barnsley went back and forth in the second half, with each team having several chances. However, the game was soon put to bed as the Terriers scored their third. Housley split the defence wide open with a superb pass in behind, finding the run of Rebecca Beresford who blasted the ball into the back of the net.

The drama wasn’t done there, as Barnsley did manage to pull one back in the last couple of minutes as Jodie Snelson hit home following a goalkeeping error. Town did everything they could to see out the game, but Serena Fletcher was shown a second yellow card for a soft foul in the middle of the pitch. With the defender being shown a red card, her availability for the final was thrown up into the air.

Manager Glen Preston said: “I am delighted with that. I think it was a professional performance, because I thought we were good value for a three-goal lead.

“What we noticed was that in the last game we couldn’t get our fullbacks high on our bobbly pitch. So, we thought with playing on astroturf we were going to be able to get our wingbacks nice and high from the off.

“We knew the opposition played a high line, we prepped for that during the week, with the timing of our runs and our movement.

“I think in the first half I was frustrated as we missed four or five glorious opportunities to get in behind, but we kept hitting the fullbacks, but we still managed to get through a few times that lead to goalscoring moments, and ultimately, it has paid off for us.”

In the space of four months, Huddersfield Town Women secured their spot in their fourth consecutive Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup Final, hosted at the New York Stadium (Rotherham) on Wednesday 7 May.

Some big wins, and tough tests on their way to the final, but is most important is that the Terriers have a chance to retain their trophy and end their season with a bang.

Colour and image correction are both key aspects of producing quality imagery. In this workshop we learnt how to edit, crop and finalise an image in post production. Correcting the colour and image is incredibly important as they improve the quality of the image. Marginal adjustments can improve the imagery, making things pop subtly, or direct focus towards a specific aspect of a photo.

The image above is the initial snapshot captured. Taken through the goal net, depth of field really comes into play with the focus of the image being set deeper. I wanted to make the blues and reds slightly more vibrant, whilst also making the lines of the net seem a little more quiet.

The final product is okay. I did what I intended to do, the reds and blues had been enhanced and I used curves to make the lines of the net blend a little easier.

The camera that I am using has a small range of f-stop ability, I feel like there may be a way that I can fiddle with the camera and the settings to open the range up wider. In the highest setting I was trying to get everything in the image to be semi-clear, judging things by the P on the parking meter in the background. As you can see, this didn’t work very well.

In the lowest setting I wanted to get a clearer image of the subjects face. The photo of Nico is clearer with the there being more light on his face. Despite the change in f-stop, the image is still not particularly crisp and I am not too happy with the final results.

I feel like I need to practice using f-stop with both my small camera and mobile phone in order to improve my skills. I am going to have another go at trying this task soon.

Portrait to Landscape crop –

Original:

Cropped:

I cropped the original portrait image above to landscape so I can use it. Portrait images are rarely used in media, so changing it to a landscape view makes the image more useable.

Perspective crop –

Original:

Straightened:

I straightened the image above using the Perspective Crop Tool. This allowed me to alter the perspective of the image, making the flats appear straight on instead of the lopsided view in the original image.

Week 1

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Week 2

In week 2, we went through the types of photojournalism in class. These were illustrative photography, which includes collages, multimedia, studio and portraiture images. Reportage photography includes images of war, politics and news. Documentary photography includes social, industrial, and street/candid images.

The task for the lecture was to initially research the history of my desired genre. I found the earliest example of sports photography, which was an image of tennis player Mr Laing, taken all the way back in 1843.

Next, I needed to identify a specific sports photographer, leading me to the work of Neil Leifer, who took an iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali knocking out Cleveland Williams.

I then collated three unique images, one from Leifer, another from AFP, and finally from Chris Szagola. All of the photographs that I selected are incredible snapshots taken in less than a millisecond. This made my hyperaware of the fact that often the best sporting images are taken in exactly the right spot, at the right time, with optimal lighting.

I found this task interesting as it made me further understand the history of sports photography. The power of sporting images has existed for almost 200 years, with some of the worlds most famous photographs existing in the world of sport. The task helped me recognise the importance of preparation whilst also being ready to capture things on the fly, and developing those skills is something that can only be improved with time spent behind the lens.

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Week 3

The week three task was to select three images. The first needed to be an image used in the news that had been set up or constructed. I selected an image of two Ukrainian men stood in front of rubble and broken vehicles in the war torn city of Kryvyi Rih. This image was clearly set up as the two men were posing, looking at the lense, in a specific position.

The second task was to find a news photograph that had been taken from a point of view that affects the story. I selected the iconic image of Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination, with the front on shot witnessing Jack Ruby point his revolver towards Oswald’s chest, shock on the faces all around. That image would not tell the same story if the photograph was taken behind Oswald.

The final task was to identify a photograph whose meaning is disputed. I selected the influential image of Colin Kaepernick taking the knee during the American national anthem. The action of taking the knee signified Kaepernick’s desire to draw attention to the ongoing civil rights movement. However, right wing media picked up the image and told the story that Kaepernick’s actions were a direct insult towards the United States of America. This could not have been further from the truth, but many in the USA still believe that Kaepernick’s actions were out of order.

I found these tasks interesting as it helped me understand how the perspective of an image can be changed both internally and externally. Images can be set-up and manufactured to create an exact representation of what was desired. Images can be viewed alternatively depending on what angle the photograph was taken from, with the distance, light and ‘busyness’ all having an impact on what an image can show. Also, images can be framed to hold a different meaning, changing the way that people depict the photo and what it stands for.

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Week 4

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Week 5

The week 5 task was about Shutter Speed and ISO. The first part of the workshop was about understanding ISO, how it works, and how the differences in ISO can change an image. This meant studying certain images and figuring out what steps had been taken in order to create the final image.

The task was to them put what I had learnt to use. This was taking many images, some with a slow shutter speed, and some with a fast shutter speed. Taking photographs in different places that had differing levels of light made me realise how that can effect both slow and fast shutter speed images.

I felt as thought the slow shutter speed image that I took was good as it mixed elements of having a completely stationary caution sign on the floor, with visible movement of people walking in the background. The overall balance of the image is nice to look at and I am happy with the final product.

The fast shutter speed image that I took was a perfect example of how an image can capture a snapshot of a minimal moment in time. I took a photo of Leo seemingly levitating in the air, with no blur effecting the image. I was happy with the crisp detail that was captured in the image.

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Week 6

The week 6 task was all about getting to grips with colour and image correction, and how to manipulate images within Adobe Photoshop. The ability to change and develop images in post-production unlocks how an image can be perceived.

Getting to grips with all the capabilities that Photoshop provides is an extensive task, but incredibly useful. Cropping, adjusting hue and saturation, and changing the brightness can revolutionise an image. Marginal colour change can elevate certain elements of an image, dulling certain colours, whilst making others pop.

I attempted to alter an image that I had taken that uses elements of depth of field. The photo is through a goal net, capturing two players in focus. I wanted to make the white lines of the net even quieter, drawing more attention to the intended subjects of the image.

The final product was okay, I did what I intended to do, creating the changes desired. It wasn’t bad for a first attempt but I know that I want to improve my skills with practice. I used curves to micro-manipulate the image in certain places, which was something I was previously unaware was possible. This task is one that I will continue to revisit in the attempt of developing my awareness of colour and image correction.

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Week 7

The task done in this workshop opened my eyes to editing photographs in a manner I had never seen before. The Perspective Crop Tool gives the user the ability to completely change the perspective and aligning of an image. The power that this tool provides is incredibly effective, and it was a lot simpler to execute than I was expecting.

The first task was to crop a portrait image into a landscape image with the correct ratios. I have a few portrait images of players from my work covering Huddersfield Town Women, so this was a straightforward process, but I wanted to ensure that the balance of the image remained even and sharp. I feel as though I can do this very easily.

The second part of the task was using the perspective tool and again, in practice it was incredibly simple to use. This feels as though it is a tool that will get regular use in my work moving forward.

The final part of the workshop was a cleaning up task, going through my work in this module and making sure that everything is to the highest level. This included alt. text, captions and ensuring that multimedia elements correctly fit the piece of work. This is something I am used to going back and doing when I am creating my own work that is published online.

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Week 8

For my photojournalism project I am planning on using images that I have taken across the season at Huddersfield Town Women. I would like to display the expressions and focus on faces of players and staff mid-match, and how they can vary so much depending on the situation taking place.

I have taken over 1000 photos so far this season, with a high variety in those images. It has been an interesting challenge, developing my skills with little experience, attempting to figure out what contributes to good imagery.

I am currently at the stage where I am narrowing down the images that I want to use, and then slowly taking them through the editing process, making fine changes until the image looks exactly how I want it to.

One of the most crucial elements of photography is impacting the exposure and movement within an image using shutter speed. The following blog post explores the creative possibilities available when affecting shutter speed. Check out the photos below to see an example of the potential differences.

Slow Shutter Speed

The first example image demonstrates how a slow shutter speed can drastically change the look of an image. The captured photo shows a yellow caution sign not moving, but there are signs of movement from people walking behind. The crisp detail alongside the motion blur effects shows the impact of how a slower shutter speed can alter perspective.

Fast Shutter Speed

Fast shutter speeds freeze action. This image has captured Leo levitating in the air, in a split second moment. The ability to take a photo of such a brief moment means that there is potential to take images of finer details. In the world of sport, a lot of action can happen in a minimal amount of time. It is incredibly important to be able to catch these moments that only happen once.