Leafield Athletic 4-1 WCWFC
City suffered a frustrating loss at Castle Vale Stadium against Leafield Athletic. Leafield scored four, making the most of their momentum from their early chances. However, City were not without their chances and in extra time, defender Shona Baldwin, drew one back to make the scoreline a little easier to digest for City.
The game got off to a fair start with both teams creating chances towards the goal. However, Leafield were the first to capitalise with an early goal in the eighth minute. The game continued to remain even throughout, despite Leafield getting their second just before the half-time mark.
City worked hard to try and penetrate the final third but couldn’t get through, with Leafield gaining more confidence on the pitch as the half progressed.
As the second half got underway, City made one change at the break, with Hollie Congrave coming on for Kerstin Ballard. Leafield had the upper hand spending the open minutes in their final third with plenty of shots on target. City keeper, Sofia Stolt, maintained a solid performance with some great saves to keep the scoreline down to a minimum. Unfortunately, Leafield profited from the momentum they took from their first half and got their third with a strike from Hannah Fishwick in the 58th minute.
As the half progressed, City started to find themselves with a bit more progression in the final third. A left-footed strike from the 18-yard box from Chloe Bellamy narrowly missed, going wide of the goal. Nevertheless, once again, City’s efforts came to no avail for the time being, and it wasn't long before Leafield’s Fishwick got her hat-trick before the 90th minute mark.
After chances in the first half, Keeley Crew made another great effort on target with Leafield’s keeper tipping her strike wide of the goal. With more luck in the final third after Leafield dominating, Shona Baldwin struck sweetly with a fantastic shot in extra time after running just outside the box following a set-piece.
We face a tough game away next week against current league leaders Loughborough Lightning who remain unbeaten in their campaign as of yet. We’d love to have your support.