Steve O’Hara’s County Ladies team got their league campaign off to a perfect start on Sunday afternoon, with a convincing win at home to Norton & Stockton Ancients.
Manager Steve O’Hara takes us through the game:
“On Sunday we started our league campaign, and as always on the opening day there were a few butterflies and nerves, wondering if we’ve got the preparation right, questioning if we’ve got the recruitment right.
“Pre-season had gone well, as we remained unbeaten in our seven games, scoring lots of goals and conceding very few in the process, but competitive games are a different thing.
“We started brightly and dominated possession early on, without really testing their goalkeeper. We knew Norton would be difficult to break down but as the half wore on we started to get more space, and the keeper was called into action by debutant Nat Watson when a well worked move found her in space on the right side of the area, but her shot was parried away.
“On the stroke of half-time, a corner from the right was perfectly floated across for Nat got her head on it, planting the header home to give us a deserved lead going in to the break.
“We spoke about having control of the ball, which would in turn control the game. Norton came out after the break and were far more physical, resulting in the game becoming a bit scrappy for around 15/20 minutes.
“Just as we were about to make some changes, we turned the ball over on the halfway line and broke down the left. Poland U17’s international Aisha Nsangou played a neat ball inside to Watson, who moved it quickly to an unmarked Em Bradshaw in the middle, and she calmly slotted it past the ‘keeper and into the bottom corner.
“From then on, we never looked in danger and we started to relax and play some really good stuff, stretching their defence and forcing the ‘keeper into action on several occasions.
“We wrapped the game up when Aisha broke clear again only to have her shot saved; we recycled the ball and it was played into the path of skipper Kenedy Owen, who found the back of the net from 25 yards out.
“We continued to test the goalkeeper for the remainder of the game, but just couldn’t find the fourth to cap off our performance.
“It’s a really good, solid start to the season for us. A clean-sheet and three goals in-front of a decent crowd of 122, with lots of new faces down to watch us for the first time too.
“Next Sunday we are away to Huddersfield Town, which will be a really tough test. Town were relegated from the league above last season, but have kept most of their squad together over the Summer and they will definitely be in the mix come the end of the season.”
