First round of the Ladies Challenge Cup, will Wyrley maintain their excellent cup form from past seasons and progress through to the next round? 5mins after sustained pressure from Wyrley, Sophie found herself free inside the box and deftly chipped the keeper 1-0. Not to be outdone Silverdale went back on the attack and had several shots at goal, not all of them bothered Lauren unduly. 20 mins Silverdale muscled the ball out of midfield and struck a sweet shot that managed to go under the diving Lauren 1-1. More attack counter attack football was played by both teams in this evenly contested game. Both sides played some nice football and contested every ball. Defenders Leah, Ash, Cath and Jody were worked hard at times trying to contain Silverdale and made several brilliant tackles in and around the box. Midfielders Shelly, Tash, Emily and Hayley T were not given long on the ball. Sophie and Leanne were given some great balls to chase and it was mainly due to the excellent keeper that kept the score down. 45mins Emily took the corner, which bent well, cleared everyone in the box and struck the far post and crossed the line 2-1.
Silverdale were straight on the attack and scored their second on 46mins with a fierce drive over Lauren 2-2. 55mins Silverdale’s keeper made an error in kicking the ball out when it hit the back of Leanne, She turned and smashed it from the edge of the box, past the stranded keeper, advantage back to Wyrley 3-2. 60mins Shelly came off for Kirsty, and pushed Leah up into midfield. A great challenge by Tash, unfortunately the Silverdale player landed awkwardly and dislocated her shoulder. Unfortunately this left Silverdale down to 10 players, and proved to be the turning point in the game. Wyrley had the extra player and a substitute, Hayley B coming on for a relieved Cath, who had had her fair share of battles. 72mins Hayley T with another of her fluid runs down the wing battling the defender before putting in a sublime cross to give Sophie a simple tap in 4-2. Silverdale did not give up and caused Lauren a few problems, which she mainly dealt with cleanly. 84mins Emily with another brilliant corner, which hit Kirsty on the head and into the roof of the net 5-2. No Kirsty you didn’t head it in, it hit you on the head. 86mins Leanne’s pace once again had the defender struggling, she cut the ball back for Sophie to head home for her hat-trick 6-2. That was Sophie’s 9th goal of the weekend, well done Soph, Im told it was 1 with your left, 1 with your right and a stunning header today.
A wonderful game for the spectators, and a very close game which seemed destined to go into extra time until the unfortunate dislocation. A special mention for the ref Mark Warren today, this game must come a close 2nd to when he was the linesman in the 1998 world cup final between France and Brazil.