FC Women make it 5 out of 5
FC United women returned to league action after a three week preoccupation with various knockout cup competitions and maintained their 100% record with a convincing away win at Darwen.
There was little indication of this in the early stages of the game though as Sophie Donald in the Reds’ goal was kept busy in the opening minutes. Firstly reaching upwards to save after Dawson was allowed to direct a standing header goalwards from a corner, then twice denying Turner who fired on the volley from inside the box (to a chipped pass over the defence by Dawson) and then tried a crafty effort off the outside of the right foot on the left side of the area after springing the offside trap.
The visitors came into the game more as Dixon hit a free kick from 25 yards that dipped just over the top left hand corner and then Kelly almost cashed in on a lucky bounce off a defender with a snapshot that was blocked by Darwen skipper Duckworth. Opposing captain Chambers cut in from the left side of the area to fire a right foot shot that was well saved by home keeper Gregson.
The Reds were still struggling at times to get out of first gear it seemed and fell behind on 34 minutes when Chelsea Patient mis-cued a header to an awkward bouncing ball and sent it looping over the stranded Donald for an own goal.
However the lead lasted only four minutes. Dixon shown persistence in chasing an apparent lost cause and managed to nick the ball past Gregson who slid out and crashed into the FC no. 9 to concede a penalty kick. After a short delay while Gregson recovered from the effects of the challenge, Chambers stepped up and despatched the kick into the bottom right hand corner.
Despite an unconvincing overall performance in the first half, the Reds snatched the lead in first half injury time when a testing ball into the box glanced off Dixon, wrong footing the keeper and presenting Rigby, who did well to get into the right position, a tap in.
That proved to be Kelly’s last contribution to the match as she made way for Chelsea Flanagan for the second half and the substitute was quickly proving a handful for the home side as FC United took a grip on the game. On 56 minutes, a defender’s misjudgement allowed Kelly to pick up a ball down the left and run clear to slip in a low cross that Dixon stabbed just wide. However, just two minutes later, Chambers fed Flanagan with a through ball to score with an angled shot from the right side of the area.
Olivia Smith came off the bench and soon made her own impact with a close range finish to make it 4-1.
Flanagan almost grabbed a spectacular second goal with a weaving run and shot that Gregson did well to reach and perhaps earned the bit of luck that saw the ball bounce to safety off the post.
However Flanagan did manage to find the net again seven minutes from time, rounding off the scoring by taking the ball past a defender and wrong-footing the keeper with a shot into the bottom left hand corner.
Sunday November 6th sees FC Women return to Broadhurst Park for the first time in six weeks for a home league encounter with Crewe Alexandra Ladies. Kick off is at 2pm.
Report by Phil Bradbury
Stats by Paul Hinson (full stats available on http://liveteamstats.com/fixtures/635e849cef2c812b789e3725)
FC Women make it 5 out of 5
FC United women returned to league action after a three week preoccupation with various knockout cup competitions and maintained their 100% record with a convincing away win at Darwen.
There was little indication of this in the early stages of the game though as Sophie Donald in the Reds’ goal was kept busy in the opening minutes. Firstly reaching upwards to save after Dawson was allowed to direct a standing header goalwards from a corner, then twice denying Turner who fired on the volley from inside the box (to a chipped pass over the defence by Dawson) and then tried a crafty effort off the outside of the right foot on the left side of the area after springing the offside trap.
The visitors came into the game more as Dixon hit a free kick from 25 yards that dipped just over the top left hand corner and then Kelly almost cashed in on a lucky bounce off a defender with a snapshot that was blocked by Darwen skipper Duckworth. Opposing captain Chambers cut in from the left side of the area to fire a right foot shot that was well saved by home keeper Gregson.
The Reds were still struggling at times to get out of first gear it seemed and fell behind on 34 minutes when Chelsea Patient mis-cued a header to an awkward bouncing ball and sent it looping over the stranded Donald for an own goal.
However the lead lasted only four minutes. Dixon shown persistence in chasing an apparent lost cause and managed to nick the ball past Gregson who slid out and crashed into the FC no. 9 to concede a penalty kick. After a short delay while Gregson recovered from the effects of the challenge, Chambers stepped up and despatched the kick into the bottom right hand corner.
Despite an unconvincing overall performance in the first half, the Reds snatched the lead in first half injury time when a testing ball into the box glanced off Dixon, wrong footing the keeper and presenting Rigby, who did well to get into the right position, a tap in.
That proved to be Kelly’s last contribution to the match as she made way for Chelsea Flanagan for the second half and the substitute was quickly proving a handful for the home side as FC United took a grip on the game. On 56 minutes, a defender’s misjudgement allowed Kelly to pick up a ball down the left and run clear to slip in a low cross that Dixon stabbed just wide. However, just two minutes later, Chambers fed Flanagan with a through ball to score with an angled shot from the right side of the area.
Olivia Smith came off the bench and soon made her own impact with a close range finish to make it 4-1.
Flanagan almost grabbed a spectacular second goal with a weaving run and shot that Gregson did well to reach and perhaps earned the bit of luck that saw the ball bounce to safety off the post.
However Flanagan did manage to find the net again seven minutes from time, rounding off the scoring by taking the ball past a defender and wrong-footing the keeper with a shot into the bottom left hand corner.
Sunday November 6th sees FC Women return to Broadhurst Park for the first time in six weeks for a home league encounter with Crewe Alexandra Ladies. Kick off is at 2pm.
Report by Phil Bradbury
Stats by Paul Hinson (full stats available on http://liveteamstats.com/fixtures/635e849cef2c812b789e3725)
