Wimborne Town FC U18 Girls 1 vs 3 Fulham Women

***Pauls Match Report***

Tough For Town!

The first home fixture of the year saw the visit of Fulham to the New Cuthbury. No Megan, Brooke or Bay for this one and Laila not yet fit after her ankle injury the previous week.

A competitive opening 10 minutes saw Emilie shoot wide of the goal for Wimborne prior to the team falling behind on 15mins, the Fulham striker quickest to a loose ball in front of goal (0–1). The goal settled the travelling side into their pattern of play and although a good chance for Olivia was spurned, in truth the visitors grew stronger as a team, the home side were pleased to get to half time with the single goal deficit.

HT 0-1

An unchallenged strong header from one of many corners for Fulham did nothing to help Wimborne’s cause within minutes of the restart (0-2). Another nasty looking ankle injury, this time to Jess further dented hopes of getting back into the match. Although miles from their best with the ball and struggling to contain a talented Fulham outfit when out of possession the girls showed backbone to stay in the game. Emilia found space around the edge of the penalty box to at least test the visiting goalkeeper, her handling good when fielding two well hit strikes. From Emilie’s cross it was Izzy that found the back of the net at the second attempt to drag the team back within a goal (1-2).

Any hope of a comeback was extinguished with eight minutes remaining, another corner for the visitors only half cleared and a well taken low drive into the corner of the goal (1-3). Tiredness had taken its toll and the team were unable to respond again, a good Fulham team saw out the final minutes to claim the points after a long travel for their team.

FT:

WTFC 1-3 Fulham

POM:Lila (did not let her head drop, especially in the first half when constantly tested defensively down Town’s left hand side).

Summary:

A difficult match for the team after a run of more compact performances. In truth, after an even opening the team struggled with Fulham’s game and found it difficult to impose themselves on the game when in posession. Passes generally did not connect so balls were hit longer meaning a lack of team cohesion and a lack of control.

Hopefully, Jess is not in too much discomfort and has a speedy recovery. This player, as with Laila, will be sorely missed.

Maybe fatigued but a lack of effort cannot be thrown at these girls.

Onwards and upwards!!