Southampton 0 – 1 Durham
St Marys Stadium | Goalscorer: Rio Hardy | Attendance 2,361
Saints were at home again, last Sunday, as they faced Durham in the match that should have taken place back in September. Sadly it didn’t go the way we all hoped. In front of an attendance of 2,361 that made its way through the turnstiles with a handful of them being Durham to watch Saints take on The Wildcats, a few of them being Durham fans having made the trip all the way down South. A journey some of us know well, their journey frustratingly for us, being made worth it by Durham heading home with all 3 points.
Honestly for me, I don’t think this is a game where we really shone and it was the final third again where things were just not clicking fir our team. We have the intensity, and drive to get the ball into dangerous areas and do creat that crucial opportunities and chances but we are just unable to put the ball in the net when it really matters. We had 13 shots in this match, equal to Durham, 6 being on target and the other 7 off, we also took up the majority of the possession being 55%.
We were falling again for the streetwise, Championship bullying tactics that established teams in this league are well versed in, couple this with a ref untried at this level, buying into Durhams tactics, in blowing the whistle for a fake head injuries, ignoring clear fouls and not having control of the game. We were left feeling, deflated, frustrated and angry at the on pitch decisions. Fir our girls, they must be wondering when they will have a decent ref this year, as I can only think of one good one, which was the Palace match. I know it’s football and it happens all the time, but that’s bad gamesmanship on Durhams behalf. I also think this is the first match where I’ve truly heard Marieanne project and make her voice heard. She sounded just as frustrated and annoyed as we were in the stands.
First half
In the first half I actually thought we looked pretty dominant; we had a lot more of the ball and we were creating chances, one in which was within the first minute. We won a free kick which saw Chloe Peplow deliver a beautiful ball into the box, Raff was there to chest it down but wasn’t able to connect to shoot, the ball then fell to Lucia who failed to get enough power behind the ball, and it was safely collected by the Durham keeper. The next shot was from
Durham, a cross into the box saw Raff and Milly both go to clear it, but it fell in between and rolled into the path of a Durham player, she pulled the trigger but luckily Raff was there to block.
One thing I will say before I talk about our next chance, is that Ella and Lexi work well down the wing together, I hope to see more of this in the remaining matches. I’d also really like to see more of Beth Lumsden on the pitch. Ella ran it down the wing and crossed it into the box, it was too high for Lucia to get her head on but Beth controlled it and shot, it was blocked. Beth then chased the ball, crossed it back into the box and Ella Morris took a shot, unfortunately blocked by our very own Wilko. What a goal that would have been. The rebound off Wilko was chased down by Alice who took her chance but it was too saved by their keeper.
Our last chance of the half come from a short corner, Chloe passed to Beth who ran it into the box by the by-line, she squared it in which was blocked and pushed into the path of Lexi, she pulled the trigger but it went over. Up the other end, Durham took a shot but it went straight to the hands of Kayla.
I must mention Milly, as well as playing in an unfamiliar role to her on the left, she played it well and was also linking up with both Beth and Lexi when they switched. Milly was on the receiving end of a bad tackle, which should have been a red card mind, the ref only gave a yellow. In true fighting spirit, she got back on and she played her heart out, just like she always does, even with getting battered and bruised by the opposition.
Second half
The second half was where we began to fall apart, undoing all the good work from the first 45 minutes, Durham grew into the game becoming a lot more dominant, as well as doubling down on the fouls and play acting which was allowed to go unchecked by the ref. This half you could see that we were always trying to play too narrow, we weren’t using our wings as much – which was a strong point in the first half. So many times in this half Beth was open and in space but we chose to go through the middle.
First chance of the second half came from The Wildcats, who were causing us problems this half, they had a shot blocked which rebounded for another chance which saw safe hands Kayla save it. Second chance is what led to the goal, Wilko was pushed (some might say fouled) to the floor off the ball, for Grace Ayre to turn and run with the ball to the opposite end and feed a lovely ball, to Rio Hardy, who took her chance well and scored, and I must say, it was a good goal.
We responded to going behind well, with the ball soon back in the Durham half and we had a corner, another good delivery into the box from Peplow saw Wilko collide with the keeper
(who had already dropped the ball) and we scored. We thought we had levelled only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul on the keeper and back to 1 nil.
Beth Lumsden, what a game she had Sunday, had yet another chance after receiving a cross from Ella Morris, got it into position and pulled the trigger but again, the Durham keeper was their to save. Another cross into the box by Ella Morris; she is brilliant at those, was caught on the volly by Beth Lumsden, it went over the bar. If that had connected right that would been a great goal.
The match ended, 1 nil Durham. Let’s hope this weekends game against Bristol has a different outcome.
Player of the match
Your voted ‘Player of the match’ for the match against Durham is none other than Milly Mott!
Milly done very well against Durham, she was getting beat around by the opposition players but she just kept on going and going and never giving up, even after that very heavy tackle which saw her getting treatment for a while! Pure fighting spirit.
Very glad she’s okay!🙌🏼
Congratulations on ‘Player Of The Match’ Milly ❤️🤍
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