This Sunday, Saints welcome the Blades to Southampton, for the last match in our inaugural Championship season. Genuinely, I can’t believe that this is our very last game this season, it’s flown by and it’s going to be a long break before next season starts. This Sundays match will be played at St Marys Stadium with a kick off time of 2pm. We hope to see as many of you supporters there as possible, to cheer on the girls on their last homecoming of the season, we need to bring that noise! Tickets can be purchased online, via the phone or at the ticket office situated at St Marys.
Last time out
Last time out was back in October, the Saints headed 161 miles north to face the Blades on their home turf, Bramall Lane, the home advantage however not working in their favour. The journey was made worth it when we brought home those 3 points, after Ella Pusey broke the deadlock and we held it for the rest of the game.
The miserable weather making the pitch difficult to play on, meant the majority of the play was in the middle. Saying that though, we seemed to be the more dominant side coming out, creating chances for Wilko, Megan Wynne and Ella Pusey within the first 10 minutes, one of those chances in which led to the goal. Saints held onto that lead, showing strength and good defence to keep the Blades out. Although, we did get scrappy and also dropped a bit of tempo, but we were still creating chances. That was the win that moved us up to third in the table.
Looking back at the stats, Sheffield had more of the possession, taking up 59% to our 41%, not a huge difference but it just goes to show, you can have more of the possession but not get the outcome. Sheffield had 11 shots that game and we had 9, 4 of theirs were on target and 6 out of 9 of ours were too.
Our first, and only goal, come in the 9th minute and was scored by Ella Pusey. The goal came as Ella Morris, who was just in front of the halfway line, spotted a ready to run Ella P and beautifully placed a ball through, Ella P, who latched onto the ball, proceeded to round the keeper, she’s good at that, and then comfortably curled her effort into the back of the net! Kayla was also in hand to keep us ahead too, with a long shot from a Blade which she finger-tipped over the bar. What a keeper, our super keeper, Kayla Rendell!
The 3 points were secured in the first 9 minutes of the game, with a good performance to hold off the Blades from scoring. Let’s hope this time out, we play a great game, secure those 3 pints and end our season on a high.
Looking ahead
We head into the match on Sunday with Saints sitting in 5th place in the table. We are 15 points behind Bristol City who are sitting pretty in top spot, who have now been promoted to the WSL, and are 9 points behind London City Lionesses who moved down to 3rd, Birmingham taking 2nd with 44 points. We come off the back of our win away against Coventry United last week a game of two halves, but we really deserved to win that one. Hopefully, our momentum will continue, and we can complete the double over Sheffield United and make it a home and an away win against them. Let’s bring those 3 points home!
Sheffield United currently sits in 9th in the table with 24 points. In 21 matches they have won 7, drawn 3 and lost 11, scoring 31 and conceding 25. Sheffields away form sees them sit 8th in the table, they’ve gained 11 points in the 10 matches they’ve played away. They have won 3, drew 2 and also lost 5, whilst scoring 13 and conceding 11.
The last outing that Sheffield had was against Sunderland at home, which saw them win 4-2 with all 4 of their goals being scored in the first half! Sheffield had 55% possession in this game and dominated the match with 12 shots, 8 of which were on target.
Sheffields top scorer is Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, she’s put away 8 goals this season for the Blades. Second top is Mia Enderby, she’s scored a total of 7 goals this season. Third top is Rebecca Raynor, she’s scored 3 this season. Hopefully, this Sunday, we can keep those top scorers from adding any more to their tally.
Overall
Overall, Sheffield United are a team we’ve only played once before, that being our outing with them away from home, at Bramall Lane, earlier in the season, seeing us win 1 nil and take home those precious 3 points.
Going into the game on Sunday, I think we can expect a well fought, end to end battle, with both teams wanting to end their season on a high and taking home those 3 points. I’m hoping that the momentum of our last 2 league wins, against LCL and Coventry, carries over to this Sunday, and we see a dominating performance of very fancy and skilled football. The type of football that will make us eager and want next season to start a whole load quicker, well more than we already do and the season hasn’t even finished yet!
Let’s bring the noise this Sunday, spur those girls on to victory and hopefully we will see lots of goals (fingers crossed to us) and secure those 3 points! COME ON YOU REDS!!
Match officials
Referee – Magda Golba
Assistant referee – Elora Hardstaff
Assistant referee – Danielle Whitworth
Fourth official – Dasa Griffing
Tickets
Tickets are now on sale so don't miss out on securing your seat for what is set to be an exciting celebration of our first year in the Barclays Women's Championship!
Ticket Prices:
Adults - £8
Under-18s - £2
Vote for your supporter of the season
The club are seeking nominations for the SFC Women’s Supporter of the Season. The club would really like your nominations and reason for nomination sent to tadoel@saintsfc.co.uk - I’m afraid the deadline for this is very tight @12pm Saturday 29/4/2023 (sorry) really looking forward to receiving your nominations (SLO Southampton FC)
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