Coventry United 0 – 4 Southampton FC Women
Butts Park Arena | Goalscorers; Katie Wilkinson, Ella Pusey, Sophia Pharoah, Beth Lumsden
Last Sunday, the Saints headed to the midlands for their penultimate game of the season, and also their last away! Boy, oh boy was it a good game, one you could say was ‘goals galore’! A whole bunch of us Saints supporters travelled up last Sunday, whether it be by car, public transport or on the minibus, we made our way, we brought the noise, and the girls bought those precious 3 points home!
Massive congratulations to Phoebe Williams, the Coventry match was her 100th appearance in a red and white shirt! She gives nothing but determination, grit and passion when she plays for this team and it’s made me happy to see her getting game time lately, even if it’s only minutes! Amazing achievement for such an amazing and down to earth player – proud!
I really enjoyed this match last Sunday, it was a very cold day with the bitter wind blowing
against us throughout the match, but seeing those girls play, thrive and come home with those 3 points makes sitting in the cold a whole load worth it. Again, the first 10-20 minutes took us a while to settle into the game, with Coventry taking up a lot of the possession, but fortunately weren’t creating many chances. From a Saints perspective, the slow start could be down to the fact we were playing on Astro, something we don’t do that often.
Despite the surface we eased into the game and once we got going, we were creating chances, many coming from the right wing, with Ella P and Ella M using their t’Ella’pathy, linking up well and both making their runs, firing in crosses or charging to the touch line to whip the ball in. Ella P particularly strong performance this week.
It was a full debut for Beth Howard,
and my did she make her presence felt, she is a very vocal goalkeeper, making her voice heard, giving instructions from the back, commanding the box well and was just as calm and collected as our Kayla. Just what you need from your no. 2 goalkeeper! What a debut!
The whole team played well today, with Lucia, Alice, Ella M & Beth Howard standing out! Congratulations on your first start Beth! The girls were definitely the better team today and they deserved that win and those 3 points!
First half
The first half started off with Coventry having most of the possession, although just while we warmed into the game and got used to playing on the pitch, as the girls are not used to playing on it regularly. Saying that, there were a lot of chances were created in this half, but frustratingly no goals were scored, thanks to a well put together defence, able to break us down, it also highlighted that it is the final third that needs
attention in our game. The ball was cheaply given away with sloppy passing which led to the
Coventry possession, we were also second to the ball at times and the pressing we had seen used to such good effect in the LCL match, sadly wasn’t as good in thus half.
The first chance of the match came from a pass out to Ella Pusey on the wing, who then put it back through to Sophia, who was in space, she ran into the box and took a shot, putting it over the bar. Next chance saw Ella Pusey again try to put it in the box for Wilko, that was blocked but then rolled back to the feet of Alice Griffiths, who with strength got it round a player, who ended up on the floor, and took a shot from outside the area that rattled the crossbar, what a goal that would have been! The ball stayed into play but was knocked out for a corner.
A charging Ella P down the right was the next to create, she managed to dummy the Cov
player, to take it back and pull it back to Sophia Pharoah who took a shot, but it was saved by
their keeper. Another brilliant delivery into the box from a corner, by Paige Peake, pinpointed
the head of Wilko but it flew over the bar.
Not many, if any, major chances tested Beth this half but we were peppering the goal, just not
finding the back of the net.
Second half
The second half, the Saints faithful, having made the journey were in for a delicious spectacle, with so many chances and plenty of goals, four goals to be precise, this being the
most goals we’ve scored in a match
this whole season. In the first half, the girls took it upon themselves to try and break the deadlock by having a huddle on the
pitch when the keeper was down, they came close without making it
count.
It needed the half time
teak talk with Marieanne and Lauren, giving their match overview. I can imagine that the talk was along the lines, of a reminder that we have the talent within the squad to unlock the Coventry defence, be first to the ball, speed up the passing and one touch football, look for spaces and make use of the runs that our forwards were making. Be brave, is what I can hear Marieanne saying. The team did just that, and it changed the momentum of the game for the better.
The first chance of this half came from a Coventry mistake, which saw Ella Morris put pressure on the Cov player causing her to pass it, but our Lucia intercepted with pace and put it through to Wilko, who was taken right out by the goalie, penalty Southampton! Katie stepped up to take the shot, and we saw the ball rocket to the bottom right corner and having sent their goalie the wrong way! 1 nil Saints! The second goal came just 4 minutes after that, with Alice slicing the Coventry defence wide open with a delightful through ball to the feet for Pusey, who made no mistake of firing home. 2 nil Saints!
A run from Wilko saw the next chance, she ran it from the halfway line, getting it past not 1,
not 2 but 3 defenders before taking her shot, frustratingly the shot went straight into the goalies hands. Very impressive run by Wilko! Our next chance was offside, a ball from Wilko was put through to an onrunning Pusey, who slotted it in but was sadly adjudged to be offside. Some sweet slick football led to our next chance, Megan C passed it to Ella P who passed it to Wilko, Ella P ran on, and again Wilko rolled it through for Ella P, she then ran it
into the box, tried taking a side shot but didn’t succeed. Can’t help but think the better option there was with Sophia and Wilko who were in the box anticipating.
With Ella P and Katie Wilko working their socks off, they made way for both Beth Lumsden and Lexi Lloyd-Smith, both slotting in to place not needing time to warm into the game. We were served up more scintillating link up play with Ella Morris
being at the heart of the positive play down the right wing, she squared into the box to Lexi,
who one touched it back to Lucia, she pulled the trigger but the ball wen agonisingly over.
Lucia really did have a cracking game, it was some kind of wonderful seeing her sit slightly
further forward of the defence and Alice and really spray the balls out to the wings and
forwards.
Next, Beth Lumsden made a run, looked up and saw Sophia charging through the middle and right of the box, Sophia shot and it looks like it took a slight deflection off a Cov defender and the ball went into that goal! Perhaps it was a cross, but Sophia deserved to claim the goal from all her endeavours from both halves, if it had been a cross, Lexi would have been there to tap it home. 3 nil Southampton! Get in!
The best was to be saved till last, what a beautiful goal by Beth Lumsden, the move starting
with Ella M down the wing and squaring the ball into the box for Beth, who did ‘The Russo’
wrong footing the keeper, with a back of the hill flick to send the ball rolling into the net. It was
proper glorious, if it’s not the goal of the season, I will be surprised.
Coventry they never gave up, they kept playing the game properly and finally took a major
chance in the final minutes, the Cov player held off Lucia, to which Lucia ended up on the floor, ran it into the middle and took a long-range shot, which was safely saved by Beth
Howard! The match ended and Saints travelled home with the 3 points.
It was just deserts, the game really coming to life once Wilko won and converted, the penalty,
the girls made their football and touches count, and were good value for their efforts ensuring
all 3 points and goal fest would send all home with smiles on their faces.
Player of the match
Your voted ‘Player Of The Match’ for last Sundays game against Coventry United and on her
very first league start was none other
than, Beth Howard!
She had a brilliant game on Sunday and was very commanding and vocal for the back, making sure she was heard by the players she was giving directions too. She also made some good saves! It was good to see her get her first start and 90 minutes last Sunday! Well played and congratulations on ‘Player of the match’ Beth!!
Lineup
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