Sheffield United 0 – 1 Southampton FC Women
Bramall Lane | Attendance: | Goalscorer; Katie Wilkinson
Last Sunday, the mighty Saints made the 330-mile round trip, to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United, in their second league match of 2024. The match ended in delight despite the hardfought game and a nervy second half for us Saints fans. I am impressed by the turnout of Saints fans that made the journey. Hopefully we keep this winning momentum and mentality going through the next games!
First things first, I just want to address our defence because what a game they had on Sunday, they were doing and executing their job so perfectly and doing the main aim of their job, keeping the ball from the danger area! I must say, the first 20 minutes of the game were quite possibly the best that we’ve seen all season, the movement, the creation, the passing and passages of play were truly spectacular! It was really great to see us start on the front foot, same again this Sunday hopefully!
Sheffield seemed to pick up the momentum in the 20th -30th minute of the game where they were constantly trying to pressure us and go on the attack, but we managed to keep them out and keep the game controlled! There were a few iffy moments but that’s to be expected in any game of football, the full 90 minutes it’s ever going to be perfect. We just needed to get that second goal to keep the edge off us but even with our multiple chances, 9 to be exact and 4 in target, we just couldn’t get the second. This meant that the second half was definitely a very nervy one!
The one thing I noticed about last Sunday, was that Sheffield were being very loose with their passing which was good for us as it allowed us to then be able to intercept their loose passes and use that to our advantage and go on the break! We definitely kept United on their toes throughout the whole match that’s for sure. Although, with around 8 first team players out injured it meant our bench was a little short than it usually is, that being said the only change we made throughout the game was bringing Lexi on! You could see the girls were getting really tired, but they fought until the end and got that nervy win.
First half
The first half saw a very spritely and on it 20 minutes from Saints, seeing lovely footwork and good passing plays! The first chance come in the first 2 minute, in which Lucia had a disallowed goal, it was created by Megan Collett running it into the middle and passing to Wilko, who the put it through to Lucia, she put it in the net, but it was offside. We began applying the pressure again in the 6th minute where we had a corner which was cleared away.
The next chance come in the 8th minute, where Wilko tried her luck from range and sadly it sailed wide! The 11th minute is when the goal came, Milly passed to Atlanta who then held it up and passed it out to Meg C on the wing, Meg then put a perfectly weighted through ball in for Sophia who then squared it into the box for Wilko to put it away! 1-0 Saints! It doesn’t end there, as Wilko had yet another shot in the 16th minute which again went wide.
Sheffield's first chance of the half was up next in the 18th minute, Docherty had a shot but didn’t test Kayla at all, as it hit the side netting. The 25th minute came along, and Sheffield picked up their game, they had their shot, but it was denied by our brick wall that is Paige, y’all shall not pass! In the 29th minute Meg C had her shot from range denied by Stenson, it looked as if it was going to dip into the goal too.
In the 33rd minute again we were hunting for our second, a corner was put into the box which either Paige or Sophia tried to put in, but it was parred out by Stenson. The last shot of the half came from Isobel Goodwin, her shot sailed wide of the post!
Second half
The second half didn’t see that many chances, it turned out to be a very nervy half though that’s for sure! The first chance of the second half come in the 55th minute, Paige took a powerful free kick from outside the area which went wide. In the 67th minute Sheffield had another chance, a corner come swinging in which was cleared short by Milly, Rayner picked it up and shot, nearly taking her own players head of mind but it went wide.
In the 72nd minute Wilko was at it again trying to get her brace, she dummied a player but then backtracked and collected the ball, took it to the middle of the box and shot, the shot was ever so light, and Stenson had no trouble saving.
In the 90th minute Sheffield gave us a very nervy scare, as a cross in the box met the head of Izzy but it went in the air, Sigsworth waited for the ball to come back down and headed it to Bourne who took a shot, luckily the header went over the bar!
FULL TIME 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON
Player of the match
The supporter's groups voted ‘Player of the match’ for last Sunday's game against Sheffield is none other than Laura Rafferty🤩 What a game she had Sunday, she was everywhere, whether it was at the back making crucial blocks and defending with all her might, or up in the box getting her own shots in! Cracking player who had a cracking game! 😇 Congratulations on ‘Player of the Match’ Raff🎉🎉
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