County Ladies Update: Unbeaten run on the line against Hull

County Ladies were defending a five-game unbeaten run in the FAWNL Division One North, when they welcomed Hull City Ladies to SSV on Sunday afternoon. Find out more about how they got on this week in our latest update!

The unbeaten League run continues:

Dismal conditions greeted the two teams at Stockport Sports Village on Sunday for an FA Women’s National League match, re-scheduled at short notice to accommodate our progress in the Women’s FA Cup.

The unbeaten league run now stands at six games, and actually started back in mid-September in the away leg of this fixture, when we beat Hull City Ladies 0-2 with goals from Levi Rathburn and Kenzie Bentley. Hull had been relegated from the FAWNL Northern Premier Division the previous season, and an away win against them was particularly notable.

The game started under darkening skies, but with the forecasted rain holding off. The first 20 minutes was all County, with former Hull player Harriet Houghton making her presence felt in midfield. There were few clear chances for either side, with neither ‘keeper having a significant save to make. Hull started to assert themselves a bit more in the second part of the half, but it was still goalless at the break.

Summer signing Harriet Houghton impressed in midfield against her former side.

After half-time the skies darkened further, three of the four floodlights came on and then the rain started! This didn’t deter County and after five minutes, last week’s hattrick hero, Maria Figueiredo, had found the back of the net again!

This was right in front of the home fans, and a vociferous Hull supporter, all now cowering from the downpour under the stand behind the goal.

Play continued, though sometimes difficult to see through the rain, with County looking to capitalise on their advantage. Abbie Carrington, Tamia Forrester and Ella Ritchie came on from the bench to add some fresh legs throughout the team, but with just a few minutes left, Hull equalised from an attack down their left side.

Both sides finished strongly, despite the weather, but the game finished 1-1, and sure enough, a few minutes after the teams had got back into the comfort of the changing rooms, the rain stopped.

It was a real captain’s performance from Kenedy Owen, who picked up the Player of the Match award.

A draw doesn’t alter County’s league position – we remain in 5th place, ahead of Middlesborough on goal difference, but having played a game more.

Once he’d dried out, Steve O’Hara was disappointed to concede a late goal but took a positive view of the result, and was looking forward to next weekend’s away trip to Consett in the Women’s FA Cup:

“Two very committed teams worked hard for 90 mins in really difficult conditions. We feel disappointed not to come away with the win, having taken the lead after a great finish from Maria Figueiredo. She rifled the ball into the roof of the net after collecting a through ball from Harriet Houghton.

“I’ve felt in games over the past few weeks that we’ve managed the game better than we did on Sunday, we just couldn’t hold out long enough to take all three points.

“It does show how far we have come as a group, being disappointed with only a point against a very good, experienced, team like Hull. We have a big week ahead now, as we look to make history by getting through to the third round of the FA cup for the first time!”

To see all of County Ladies’ upcoming fixtures, click here.


How the league table looks after that draw…

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