Watford FC Women 0 – 2 Southampton FC Women
Grosvenor Vale | Goalscorers; Sophia Pharoah, Molly Pike
Last Sunday, the mighty Saints headed away to Grosvenor Vale to face Watford, in their sixth league match. The match ended in delight despite the hard-fought, nervy 90-minute battle by both teams. I am extremely impressed by the turnout of Saints fans that made their way through the turnstiles, and I have to say, I truly think we outnumbered them at their own ground! Hopefully we keep this winning momentum and mentality going through the next games!
Before I talk about the match, I just want to say how incredible us Saints fans were yesterday, we truly brought that noise to Grosvenor Vale – we were loud, we were proud, and I think that’s what really helped the girls push for more! I mean, they’ve said it themselves how the support and noise spur them on to keep going!
Coming off the back of a frustrating defeat against Birmingham City, we were all hoping that Saints would learn, bounce back and bounce back they did. Passion, grit and determination was shown by every single player on that pitch. They communicated with each other constantly, were producing so many good attacks with every opportunity, and for us supporters it was that much more entertaining, as we were so close to the action, we felt part of it.
With every touch of that ball there was one intention for the players, and that was to turn and go, quick thinking for who to pass to, to turn the move into an attack. Sadly, for Watford, they always seemed one move away from doing anything to really hurt us, with no real killer pass in them they found it hard to cause us problems and failed to make the player advantage and 53% possession, count.
Saints really imposed their own style and their own way of doing things on Sunday, they played it their game and it’s what we love to see, they play so much better when they take their game to the opposition, rather than being nullified by the opponent, in this case Watford. The girls looked so much more comfortable and balanced
doing that, and we can all visibly see it bringing the confidence to the performance of each player. If they lost the ball, they’d put pressure straight away onto Watford, aiming to get that ball back, which most of the time they did!
I am extremely impressed and proud of how well the girls played on Sunday, and you could tell that not only did it mean a lot to us fans, but it meant so incredibly much to the team, the passion they showed when that final whistle blew was something, especially Marieanne when she come over to us!
First half
The first half is the half we imposed ourselves in how we were going to play, we took up a lot of the possession and produced a fair few chances, 1 in which was a goal. Watford
struggled to get into this half, failing to make connecting passes, which sometimes looked like a hit and hope because they saw a Saints player closing them down, which only gave the ball away.
The first chance come early in the half, with Molly Pike testing former Saints keeper, Sophie Harris, within the first 8 minutes. A throw in by Jemma aimed for Emily Kraft, who turned under pressure and passed it to Molly, she pulled the trigger from outside the area, but the ball safely made its way into Sophie’s arms. The next chance was actually Watford’s in the 13th minute, Haines tested Kayla from long range, but Kayla collected it with no trouble.
The 19th minute is when the goal came, Jemma beautifully crossed it into the box which found the head of a Watford player, which diverted the ball to Megan C who tried her luck! The ball hit the crossbar and rebounded out for Sophie to volley it home! 1 nil Southampton!!! The goal came and the fans got louder and boosted the mighty Saints on!
Shortly after the goal and it was Emily next with the chance in the 23rd minute! What looked to be a perfectly place ball was the teeniest wide and it hit the post and bounced out, Emily was so ready to celebrate! The last chance of the half was in the 43rd minute, a ball into the box by Molly was headed over by Sophia.
Half time - 1-0 Southampton!
Second half
The second half of the match was the nerviest 45 minutes! In the 47th minute, Watford were last player and nearing a goal scoring opportunity when Milly fouled them and was shown a straight red. Leaving 43 minutes left to be played with only 10 players on the pitch, Watford took advantage of this but didn’t trouble us as such.
The red card meant a free kick, which was in quite a good position to put away, the Watford player took the strike, but Kayla saved it from going in the right side of goal. The next chance again was for Watford, this was probably the most heart-stopping moments of the match with the ball rebounding and being blocked. A free kick into the box saw Kayla leap for the ball but falling and leaving the goal open, the scramble then started with Meg Wynne making a goal line clearance and then the ball was cleared. The ball was cleared to a Watford player shot took the low strike which again was saved by Kayla.
The next chance came in the 81st minute when Saints won a free kick in a dangerous position, Paige stepped up to take aim, she pulled the trigger and a magnificent save by Sophie put the ball out for a corner. With 8 minutes of added time, Watford tried their luck after yet another free kick which was passed out wide, she ran to adjust and took a shot just outside the box which luckily flew straight to Kayla.
Then in the 99th minute Saints put the match to bed, Wilko intercepted a ball ran it forward and put it through to an onrushing Molly, their goalie come off her line to save it, but Molly put it into the back of the net! What a way to end a match!
Full time – Watford 0 Southampton 2!!
Player of the match
The supporter's groups voted ‘Player of the match’ for today's game against Watford with a landslide of votes is none other than Super Kayla Rendell🤩
Kayla put in a solid performance today under extreme circumstances, making important saves in crucial moments. She stood strong, stayed calm and collected and took all the hits in the second half, allowing Saints to hold on & bring home those 3 points.
Well played and Congratulations on ‘Player of the Match’ Kayla❤️🤍
Line Up
Substitutes
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