Match Report
A 6-0 win against Wigton Moor just a month earlier was Sheffield FC Ladies' biggest away win of the season and the team were hopeful of a similar victory today. Confidence was high after their conclusive victory the previous week, but Sheffield were not about to rest on their laurels, and knew that they had to keep pushing the bar up with the prospect of some really tough games to come in the subsequent weeks. Captain Nell Taylor was absent for the match, so Lauren Davids deputised with the armband.
Sheffield were straight into their running creating two great chances in the first three minutes. A Rachel Charles cross from the right was falling onto the head of Clare Holmes at the far post but the Wigton Moor captain, Beryl Hockey, made a fine intercepting header just in front of Holmes to prevent a certain goal, and moments later Lisa Bailey hit an effort straight at the keeper after great combination play from Gemma Gale and Lisa Giampalma. The first goal came on just four minutes when a short and cleverly worked corner allowed Giampalma the angle to whip a ball into the danger area and Gale was on had to poke the ball home. Sheffield doubled their lead on 11 minutes when Giampalma converted Lynne Grainger's excellent cross from the left from 6 yards out. Two minutes later and it was 3-0 to the hosts when Charles let fly from the edge of the box and the ball went under the defenders boot and in at the far post.
Sheffield continued to press with most of the play in the Wigton Moor half but for the occasional attack from the visitors, none of which really threatened the host's goal. Holmes was next on the score sheet for Sheffield when she ran through to meet Bailey's lofted pass and just got to the ball millimeters ahead of the on-rushing keeper to poke the ball home. Two minutes later, Charles grabbed a spectacular second with a powerful shot from wide to the right of the goal which flew over the keeper and in at the far post. Bailey made it 6-0 when she lashed the ball home after an excellent move involving Lauren Davids and Gale out on the right, and five minutes before the half-time whistle, Natalie Crofts played a ball into the box which was miscontrolled by the defender and Bailey pounced to dispatch a fantastic quick lob to leave the keeper merely a spectator as the ball dropped in over the line.
With the game already won, Sheffield resolved to keep the tempo and standards high in the second half with the knowledge that there were some tough games approaching in the forthcoming weeks. After a slight lull in which Sheffield gave the ball away and allowed Wigton Moor some rare possession, the hosts got control of the match again with four goals in a twelve minute spell. Gale played a defence splitting pass to Grainger out on the left and the winger drove the ball across the 6 yard box to pick out Holmes at the far post for a simple tap in. A minute later, Gale played another well-timed pass to release Holmes to the right of the penalty spot and the striker drove in, rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home for 9-0. Bailey made way for Jodie Crofts, who almost scored with her first touch from a Gale corner but instead the loose ball fell to Davids who scrambled the ball over the line. Two minutes later, Sheffield pulled further ahead when a cushioned header by Gale to intercept a goal kick was anticipated well by Holmes and she released a left-footed strike low into the bottom right corner.
Gale was relishing the opportunity of playing slightly further forward than her normal role and was involved in yet another of Sheffield's goals when her pass released Grainger again to the left of the goal and this time the winger cut in and dispatched a super drive which flew in over the keeper and in at the far post to make it 12-0. The hosts made two further changes in personnel: Kate Rowell coming on at right-back and Sophie Thomas at left back allowing Davids to push forward into central midfield and Natalie Crofts to move up onto the right wing, Charles and Giampalma being brought off. Davids settled into her new role immediately, and an excellent weaving run across the pitch and final pass set up Gale to get her second of the afternoon with a low drive into the right corner. Five minutes later, Gale got a deserved hatrick when she converted a great pass from Grainger to mark a super performance and earn her Player of the Match. Seconds from the end, a corner to Sheffield was taken by Gale and met firmly by the head of Christina Wright to send the ball in over the outstretched glove of the keeper for 15-0 and the highest score in the league this season.
So another three points put Sheffield right behind the leading two, whilst a fifth successive clean sheet and some hefty score lines in recent weeks give them the best goal difference in the league. However, things are likely to get an awful lot harder in the remaining matches this month, starting next week away to Harrogate Railway, who have scored the only two goals that Sheffield have conceded at home this season.
Teams:
Sheffield FC Ladies: Whiteman, N Crofts, Davids, Wright, Brett, Charles (Rowell 66), Giampalma (Thomas 71), Gale, Grainger, Bailey (J Crofts 60), Holmes
Goals: Gale 4, 74 & 80, Giampalma 11, Charles 13 & 23, Holmes 21, 52, 53 & 64, Bailey 32 & 40, Davids 62, Grainger 66, Wright 90
Player of the Match: Gemma Gale
Wigton Moor LFC: Clarke, Potter, Jones, Hockey, Smith, Hartley, Neville, House, Casey, Adair |
