Wor Lasses sign off in style - A brilliant end to a stunning season for Newcastle Women
Newcastle United’s women wrapped up their season in superb style on Sunday with a 4 – 0 win away at West Bromwich Albion. It meant the Northern Premier League Champions remained unbeaten all season in The League on the road and finished 11 points clear of nearest challengers Burnley at the top.
They picked up 59 points out of a possible 66 available and in their 22 games scored an incredible 79 goals and only conceded 11. No wonder they won the League!
The game itself was very routine and United once again showed the benefit of being a full-time outfit with access to full-time training. After a goalless first half they simply swept West Brom away with an empathic clinical display in the second 45 minutes.
Not that they didn’t have great chances in the first half. Kacie Elson hitting the post from close range before Katie Barker was clean through with only Albion keeper Anna Miller to beat but lifted her shot over the bar. Tyler Dodds then also got through on goal but was denied the opener by Miller’s brave save.
The closest though United came to breaking the deadlock in the first half was when skipper for the day Georgia Gibson rolled a 20-yard free kick square to Barker who drove it low past Miller’s dive but saw her effort hit the inside of the post.
So, no goals at half-time but it didn’t take Wor Lasses long to change that. Two minutes into the second 45 minutes and they opened the scoring. Barker laying a ball from inside the box out to Dodds on the right some 20 yards from the target at the apex of the box.
Dodds switched the ball from right to left foot and then curled a magnificent curling effort across the goal into the top corner of the net way beyond Miller’s despairing dive. What a goal it was and worthy of any game.
It opened the floodgates completely. On 61 minutes it was 2 – 0. This time Emma Kelly’s deep right-wing cross to the back post saw Gibson win a header nodding it high and forward. Hesitation between Miller and a defender enabled Elson to nip in between them chest the ball forwards and then tap it into an empty net from 3 yards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIuFlU6kRmU&ab_channel=NewcastleFansTV
Becky Langley rang the changes and it was two of her substitutions that showed her faith in them by adding to United’s tally. Sharna Wilkinson with goal number three on 76 minutes. Picking a ball up in midfield she played a great 1-2 with fellow substitute Jas McQuade before bursting into the box.
As Miller advanced to close down the angle, Wilkinson showed great composure to curl the ball around the beleaguered West Brown keeper with the outside of her right boot from 14-yards out completing a great finish to a lovely move.
Albion to be fair did have a couple of chances for a consolation goal. On 83 minutes Phoebe Warner hitting a great effort inches wide of the post from the edge of the box. Two minutes later and Hannah Reid earned her clean sheet with an outstanding reaction save to palm Jannelle Straker’s close range header onto the post.
The Lasses completed their scoring on 88 minutes. Substitute Anna Soulsby cutting along the right byline inside the 18-yard box and as she tried to turn inside to create space for a shot she was upended by Hannah George and the referee pointed to the spot.
Soulsby got up, dusted herself down and stepped forward to coolly convert the spot kick right into the side netting of the goal past Miller’s who went the right way but had no chance of keeping the well-placed penalty out.
It was celebration time all-round as in a crowd of close to 300 the Geordie contingent numbered at a shade over 200 joined their players in saying a good-bye to the Northern Premier League and a beginning to life as a FA Championship side next season.
There will not be a lot of time to breathe for Manager Becky Langley and her off field advisers as they begin to make the tough choices about next season’s squad. Indeed, there were a couple of perhaps significant moments at the end of the game that perhaps showed plans are already coming together.
But that as they say is for another Blog. For now, United enjoyed a 19th win in just 22 games as they continued to enjoy the end of season celebrations.
