The Ladies team were looking to end a successful 2022 on a high last Sunday, as they hosted newly promoted York City at SSV – their final game of the calendar year. Find out how they got on in our latest weekly update.
County Ladies finish 2022 with a win…but with an unfortunate twist:
It was a return to League action for County Ladies on Sunday as we hosted York City Ladies FC for our final FAWNL game of 2022. York were an unknown quantity, having been promoted from the Regional league last season, but have been acquitting themselves quite well in the fourth tier of women’s football, setting up an interesting match at SSV.
Conditions were grim, cold and wet as the match got underway and it was soon apparent that County had the upper hand. Most of the play was in the York half and ‘keeper, Faye Bowness was struggling to keep warm in the County goal!
Possession was soon turned into chances; both Kenzie Bentley and Maria Figueiredo forcing good saves from the York ‘keeper. The excellent save from Figueiredo’s looping shot led to a County corner and with the ball bouncing around in the six yard box, centre back Chloe Howard got the crucial final touch to turn it in for the opening goal on 21 minutes.
County kept up the pressure and forced another save in the 33rd minute. Then with five minutes to go, a York player tried to run onto a long ball over the defence. Bowness came out to collect but collided with the York player and stayed down. After a lengthy stoppage she was helped from the pitch with an ankle injury and unable to continue. goalscorer Chloe Howard took over in goal, and Abbie Carrington came off the bench to fill in the now vacant centre-back position.
County dug in and got through the final few minutes of the half to regroup during the break. HT 1-0
The second half had barely started when County doubled their lead. Another set piece worked to perfection, with Em Bradshaw driving the ball home from the edge of the box, with the help of a slight deflection.
York rallied a bit as County protected their lead, and ten minutes later won a free kick ten yards outside the box. The looping shot was dipping under the bar until stand-in ‘keeper Howard pulled off a great save to tip it over. She was called into action again a few minutes later to deny York, but on 67 minutes Bentley extended the lead, beating the offside trap and outrunning a tiring York defence to lift a beautiful finish over the oncoming ‘keeper.
The match was wrapped up and Steve O’Hara was able to use the opportunity to give three Reserve players their First Team debuts. Maisie Malone, Georgia Johnson and 16-year-old Sofia Whitehurst all impressed during the closing stages of the game. The future for the team is looking very bright, with emerging talent like this coming up through the ranks.
Whilst it was great to finish the year with a convincing win, it was clouded with the news that Bowness will be out of action for a while. Early indications were that she had sustained a fracture, but further investigation seems to indicate that it’s not quite that serious. We await further confirmation and wish her a speedy recovery!
