Southampton FC 1-3 Birmingham
Snows Stadium | Attendance; 1,262 | Goalscorers; Libby Smith, Emily Kraft, Rosie Parnell (own goal)
Last Sunday, Saints were back to their much-loved old home, Snows Stadium. Unfortunately, the match didn’t end the way we all wanted, and Birmingham took all 3 points home. Being back at Snows Stadium felt good, the fans who attended were able to surround the pitch, whereas St Marys we’re bound to one stand. Hopefully we learn from the match Sunday and change it up for next week.
Coming off the back of a spectacular away win over Reading, a lot of us were ready and excited to witness that again but sadly that isn’t what happened against Birmingham, instead we struggled. Was it the tactics? I’ll let you have a think about that one. Everyone was expecting Birmingham to have a change in the water with them being bottom and not doing so great, we were hoping it wasn’t going to be against us, but it seemed their turn around game came just one match too early.
In all honesty, it looked as if only one team wanted to win on Sunday and that was Birmingham, they come in fighting and didn’t back down at any second. They also had the ref on their side the majority of the game. I’m pretty sure the Brum player only got a yellow because us Saints fans kicked up a fuss in front of the ref. Worst ref so far this season, you can see the WSL is back.
We were outmuscled and outfought throughout the whole match, and I think tactically it was wrong, especially with making our subs too late. We kept trying to play it through the middle, which everyone could see was not working within the first 20 minutes. I feel this was the perfect game to use the wings, i think that would have given Birmingham a run for their money, just like it did in the Lewes, Blackburn and Reading matches, pure fast paced teamwork.
We just couldn’t get a run in possession, well not until the dying end of the match, by which point it was too late. We were literally second best in every department,
We could have been on level terms within 15 minutes of the second half, but the referee, Phoebe Cross, wasn’t having it. Their strikers were way too quick and unfortunately made it harder for our defenders to manage them, they did their best too though!
It’s a game we can definitely learn from, Birmingham, were on it, they had the passing, the slickness of that passing was evident, and they seemed to manage to pull together thei best performance against another rival for that coveted cup. They always say you learn more in defeat, and I think that match will be pivotal for the season, as it shows what happens when we come up against another team that doesn’t purely rely on just physical strength and guile. It will also no doubt give Marieanne food for thought, that, instead of matching up to the opposition, we should be playing to our strengths and our game.
I have no doubt that we have learned and we will see a response to this match. It’s also a reminder that it’s not just the other team we are up against, but also acted as a reminder that match officials can stamp their authority on matches and this can also affect the outcome.
One positive that did come from this match was that we finally got to see Rianna Dean play, she come on in the 77th minute so we got to see a good 20 minutes of her, including the added time. Also, Kayla in goal was incredible, cracking saves and even a penalty save!
First half
The first half Birmingham come out on the front foot, and we really struggled to get the ball out of our own half, whilst also taking the lead in twelve minutes. They were relying on their long balls and quick strikers which were working for them. We had a good couple of chances drawing to the end of the half, but it really was not a good one for us.
The first chance of the half come from a Birmingham attack, the Brum player swooped it into the box which met the head of their player, but the ball was saved by our super keeper, Kayla! First class save! The second chance was a Saints chance, Jemma whipped the ball in from the wing, which unfortunately just didn’t make contact with Wilkos head.
A fantastic through ball saw Birmingham’s pacy Libby Smith run and latch onto the ball before rounding Kayla and slotted it into the net for them! 1 nil Birmingham. A celebratory golf swing for her too? Molly Pike was next to create by running it through the middle of the park, squared it over to Wilko running into the edge of the box, she tried to whip it in from there, but the angle was just too much. The penalty is what came next, a corner whipped in my Lucy Quinn accidentally met the hand of one our ours, the ref saw it and blew for a penalty. The Brum corner went for the bottom left but Kayla got down and saved the ball from going into the goal! Go on Kayla!!!
First half ended 1 nil Birmingham.
Second half
The first chance of the half came from a Saints attack, Lucia put the ball through to Atlanta into the box, the Brum player clearly fouled her, but the ref waved it off and no penalty was given. How was that not given? Had the penalty been given, it would have put the game back on level terms, instead the ref booked Milly for some strange reason. Next on the attack was Birmingham, they used their wing and squared it into a player so she could run it into the box, she the put it in the middle but Paige was there to clear it, the clearance went back to the Brum player who put it back in for Libby Smith to put her second away. 2 nil Birmingham.
Next chance was from a Birmingham free kick, it was beautifully delivered into the box which met the head of one but went high, only for Birmingham to have another headed chance but this time straight at Kayla. Saints were next with the chance, Molly Pike passed it to Wilko who whipped the ball into the box, Ella tried doing a cheeky heel flick into the goal, but it went straight to their keepers' hands. A Birmingham corner saw a Saints own goal, the Brum player who got on the end of the corner went to the goal line to put it on a plate for her own player, the ball hit Rosie which rebounded into the back of our net. 3 nil Birmingham.
A corner for Saints was delivered into the box by Molly, the keeper tried to catch it but fumbled it and let go, Emily Kraft managed to get her head on the end of it and pull 1 back for Saints. It was too late though as this happened in the 97th minute. A consolation at least. The whistle blew, 3-1 Birmingham.
Player of the match
The supporter's groups voted ‘Player of the match’ for today's game against Birmingham with a landslide of votes is none other than Super Kayla Rendell🤩
Despite the result today Kayla pulled off some great saves including that amazing save in the first 10 minutes of the game & also, not forgetting that penalty save to deny Birmingham another goal!
Well played and Congratulations on ‘Player of the Match’ Kayla❤️🤍
Line ups
Substitutes
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