Steve O’Hara’s County Ladies side made the most of a free weekend on Sunday afternoon, arranging a friendly against higher-tier opposition in Huddersfield Town. In this week’s update, Steve takes us through the game before looking ahead to that game at Edgeley Park next month:
Huddersfield beaten at Stockport Sports Village:
“A break from league action at the weekend saw us welcome tier three side Huddersfield Town to SSV on Sunday afternoon in a mid-season friendly.
“We’ve been working hard in training on a few things so it’s nice to be able to try these out without the pressure of points on the line. We started really brightly and took control of the game with our passing and showed real good signs of control and calmness.
“We forced their ‘keeper in to a few saves early on without really making her stretch to much. We deservedly took the lead though when excellent build up play allowed Jess Gillin to race clear and smash the ball home – no more than we felt we deserved at that point.
“A goal up at the break, we didn’t change anything at half time and picked up where we left off with a really dominant display. A change of shape for our visitors then made us think about a few different things and they definitely had a spell in the middle of the half.
“Then up stepped skipper Kenedy Owen, hitting a shot from all of 25 yards which the keeper failed to handle, the ball eventually dropping into the net.
“Huddersfield hit back immediately when we sort of switched off, allowing a free shot from inside the box which turned out to be their only shot on target all game.
“The game ended 2–1, and although only a friendly we have seen enough in the game to feel confident heading back to league action this week away at Hull City. We really want to kick on for the rest of the season now and finish as high as possible, with three of the five teams above us still to play in the coming weeks.”
Looking ahead to that game at Edgeley Park…
“This past week we’ve received the news that we will be gracing the Edegley Park Pitch once again against local rivals FC United of Manchester on Sunday 10th March.
We are so excited to be able to showcase our qualities on such a big stage, and on the best pitch in the EFL. The day coincides with Mother’s Day, so it would be great to see as many County fans there as possible to cheer the girls on and treat all the wonderful mums out there to a day out and some great football.”
