DURHAM 0 – 0 SOUTHAMPTON
MAIDEN CASTLE
ATTENDANCE 652
Saints travelled 308 miles to the North East on Sunday for their first ever meeting with Durham Women FC. In Episode 18 of All Saints Podcast we discussed the potential of what a physical game this was set to be and boy did the Wildcats not disappoint. For the Saints Supporters who had braved the tough conditions of fog and near freezing temperatures to make the 616 mile round trip, the game was set to be a gripping affair. To see that many make the journey, be it by plane or by car, is a testament to growing positive atmosphere and momentum, that is building around our young team as they forge their way up the leagues in their inaugural Championship season, it truly is wonderful and lovely to see.
Despite the match remaining goalless, it was far from boring, showcasing the talent of one sidewho want to play attractive football and the other who could give it a shot in WWE. The gamewas end to end, fast paced, hard fought, hard challenging and offering a full test of resilienceand stamina. Quality chances remained limited with the true battle line being drawn inmidfield, where tackles were flying in from all corners of the pitch, because of this it would beremiss of me to not once again raise the topic of a near Professional Football Leagues not
being officiated by professional referees.
As mentioned this isn’t a new gripe that I am highlighting following Sunday’s match but
numerous matches beforehand, with the games against Charlton, Lewes, Blackburn and the FA Cup game versus Bristol where poor refereeing and bad decisions has led to so many poor outcomes on and off the pitch. In the top two tiers of the womens football in England, I believethere needs to be a serious overhaul of standards and professionalism. A lot of times this season for us and most likely others too, it seems referees are making the decisions that go against the lino who often have a clearer view than the ref had and that’s not okay, it’s
potentially costing teams points and goals that could be telling at the end of the season.
First half
From the very start of the match when that whistle blew you could see that both teams were
gearing up for a true battle, again Durham appeared to have a height advantage. However, itwas a pretty even match up, Ibelieve we did well and have come such a long way from our first match on opening day of the season.
We were pushing forward with every opportunity through the middle and with Wynnie running the wings and as ever coming up smiling even
though late tackles and full on challenges were repeatedly sending her to the ground at every turn.
With little protection from the match officials and for all our forward chances we were just
missing that end product and quality in the final third. Durham seemed to have more of the
chances in the first half but none that amounted to anything. An early chance for Durham come in the 7th minute from a lovely cross but luckily the shot by Noonan was put well wide. In the 18th minute of the match Durham had another chance and a headed shot was put wide. Crosthwaithe was the next to have a chance but our super goalie, Kayla Rendell was there to save the shot as it sailed straight into her hands.
Saints had their first chance in the 23rd minute in which saw a lovely ball come from out wide
by Sophia Pharoah to Katie Wilkinson. Wilko then crossed it into the box to which Megan
Wynne ran onto at the back post but was unable to get her feet right to take the shot. In the 28th minute Sophie Pharaoh scored after Wilko put her through and she rounded the keeper but it was ruled offside. From looking back at the highlights, in my opinion, it didn’t look offside, with the Ref who wasn’t up with play seemingly making the decision and overruling the Lino. No worldie saves and no clear cut chances where created in this half but the fight the girls had was there and it got the fire burning ready for the second half.
Second half
The fight continued on in the second half with somehow the physicalness of the match
intensifying with the Ref, again, late to address. An early chance come in the second half for
the Wildcats with Kayla denying Rio Hardy a goal after Durham worked the ball down our
right side. The 51st minute saw Noonan putting it wide after a ball come in from the right yet
again. Another chance from Durham come in the 55th minute but Kayla ran into the danger and knocked the ball away into Ella Morris who cleared it. Laura Rafferty kept the scores even in the 57th minute after clearing a ball off the line that was put in from Noonan in which again was created down our right flank.
In the 65th minute Megan Wynne ran down the left to pass to Alice Griffiths, who had an open Wilko shouting for the ball, she drove into the middle and took the shot herself.
Mcaloon dived down to her right to deny Alice a goal. Megan Wynne was picking up a lot of bruises in this match from being the target of a lot of heavy challenges but she carried on with her fighting spirit and never gave up.
In the 69th minute we saw a double chance from Saints who were taking the front foot on the
end side of this half. The first chance came from a lovely cross that Ella Morris put into the
box but the bounce of the ball meant Wilko couldn’t connect and shoot. Mcaloon tried to clear it but it met Lucia Kendall who shot was agonisingly blocked by the defender and put out for a
corner.
The 76th minute saw Lucia put Ella Morris through, she ran it through and positioned herself to shoot but the keeper saved it and put it out for a corner. In the 82nd minute we saw the first proper chance from Durham in this half for a while which was denied by Kayla. The 88th
minute with the game starting to draw to a close, the last chance come in, the ball was passed to Lucia who could have pushed forward to take the shot herself but instead passed it to Alice who drilled it just wide. The final whistle blew and the match ended 0-0.
Overall
Overall from this match you could see that Durham are a very, very physical side in how they
play and I think that bought out our physical side and fight which was good to see. Megan W
bless her was getting battered and bruised the whole game as she was being targeted by some very heavy tackles; her commentary throughout the whole game was very entertaining too, but you’ll have to come listen for yourself at the next game. Though the decisive chances were few from either side, there was an actual goal which in my opinion was wrongly called offside. The battling spirit that was displayed, in tough circumstances as well, can be highly commended and the team should be proud of the performance and standing up to one of the Championship’s toughest sides.
The majority of the cards were picked up in the second half when both teams were fighting for that winning goal. I noticed too that Saints were playing some extremely nice football that was leading to chances in the final third which I’d love to see more of in future games.
Player of the match
Laura Rafferty was voted player of the
match for the second week running by the
supporters group. This comes from her
lovely balls and constant work rate in
Sundays match. She showed her experience and was driving forward into the midfield and defending well.
Congratulations on Player Of The Match for the second week running Raff!
Shannon Stephen
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