Newcastle Women finally beaten - but take positives away from Aston Villa
Well, Wor Lasses’ 100% record has gone! But thankfully, not in the league. Their first venture in this season’s Subway Players League Cup ended in a 3-1 defeat at WSL 1 side Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
As hinted at in her press conference after Sunday’s 4-0 demolition of Leicester City in WSL 2 that kept United top of the table, Tanya Oxtoby did rotate and give many of her squad valuable minutes.
United made nine changes to the side that beat Leicester, with only Charlotte Wardlaw and Katie Bradley retaining their places, and both came off after 63 minutes. The side was skippered by Jordan Nobbs on her return to her former club.
Gemma Evans, Hanna Németh and Kayla Rendell made their full debuts. Then, in the second half, there were professional bows for PGA (Professional Game Academy) graduates Casi Gregson and Abbie Richardson.
Mags beaten at Aston Villa
The Lasses started brightly and were probably the better team, but fell behind against the run of play after 10 minutes when Lily Murphy netted for the hosts. Newcastle, though, deservedly levelled with 26 minutes played.
Oona Sevenius broke down the right at pace, but her cross carried too much power. Leanne Kiernan was able to recycle the ball and return it to United’s Finnish international, who swivelled and fired into the bottom corner.
Into the second half, and the game began to turn. United came under a lot of Villa pressure and found it difficult to get over the halfway line. Their resolve was finally broken in the 84th minute when England international Lucia Kendall restored the home side’s lead.
Lois Joel lost possession for United, allowing Kendall to leave Wor Lasses’ debutant keeper Kayla Rendell, on loan from Manchester United, rooted to the spot as she struck home.
Kendall then doubled her tally for the evening in added time, reacting quickest after some pinball in the box saw the ball rebound off the post. She had the simple task of finding the back of the empty net.
Positives to take in defeat
Despite the loss, United will take some positives from the night. There were debuts for so many, including some of their PGA players, and valuable minutes in the tank. Others enjoyed a refreshing rest and will no doubt return for the big WSL 2 derby game at Durham on Sunday.
Interestingly enough, Aston Villa had sacked manager Natalie Arroyo the day before this game after failing to win any of their first four WSL 1 games this season. That followed a very poor end to the last campaign, when they lost five in a row.
However, Villa have now won both games in the Subway Players Cup after beating Nottingham Forest away 2-0 last week. Indeed, in the nine games in this cup competition between WSL 1 and WSL 2 sides, it’s nine wins from nine for the higher-division teams.
Perhaps that’s an indication of the gap between the two leagues and how difficult it is for WSL 2 sides to make a mark. United do have two further games in the pool stage against WSL 1 opposition: a trip to Everton and a home game against Manchester United at St. James’ Park in December.
They also play Forest, Durham and Sunderland in the group stages of this competition, so qualification to the knockout stages is still a possibility.
But in reality, it’s all eyes on the promotion push, which recommences on Sunday at Maiden Castle.
