This Sunday, the Sporting Ladies travel to Droitwich Spa Ladies for their league opener (Droitwich Spa Leisure Centre, WR9 0RZ, 3:00 KO). They’ll head into this fixture on the back of an FA Cup First Qualifying Round win at home to Kingfisher; below is a write up of the match…
Sporting knew that Kingfisher would want to have a quick start to make life difficult for Sporting. Despite this, Sporting started brightly, and they were ahead in the fifth minute – Charlotte Wallis won the ball back high up the pitch and played it to Ashleigh Kennedy, switching play to Beth Breen, who drilled her shot into the bottom right corner.
The Ladies took confidence from this, exploiting space in wide areas to create chances to build on their lead. Unfortunately, the final ball fell just short on a few occasions.
25 minutes in, Sporting gave away a free kick which was scored by a Kingfisher winger. After the Kingfisher equaliser, the game was closely contested, with neither side having control.
On 38 minutes, Breen headed away a Kingfisher throw. Ellouise Russell picked the ball up, played in Wallis, who drove forward. She laid the ball off for Laura Shanley to calmly finish, restoring Sporting’s lead going into half time.
Half Time: Bromsgrove 2-1 Kingfisher
The second half started quickly, with Sporting putting Kingfisher under lots of pressure, not allowing them to get the ball into advanced areas. This enabled Bromsgrove to overturn the ball in advanced areas, and they would have increased their lead if it wasn’t for the committed defending of the Kingfisher players, throwing their bodies in front of shots.
Sporting had an opportunity to double their lead in the 55th minute, but missed from the penalty spot after a shot from Russell was handled by a defender.
The Ladies did double their lead in the 68th minute – Wallis’ shot was blocked, but Russell picked up the ball and fired the ball into the bottom left corner – making Sporting’s lead more comfortable.
Sporting rounded off their victory when Amy Goodison threw the ball down the line to Russell, who drilled a cross into the box for Lucy Pearl to finish.
Full Time: Bromsgrove 4-1 Kingfisher
A brilliant way for the Ladies to start their season, securing their place in the next round, when they will travel to Hednesford Town Ladies on Sunday 21st September.
The Ladies would like to thank the incredible support of the Bromsgrove community, with over 400 people turning out to support the Ladies!
