The Ladies travelled to Glossop on Sunday for the return league match against Glossop North End Ladies, knowing that they had take all three points and that Glossop wouldn't make it easy for them. The journey to Glossop was a battle in itself, taking 2 1/2 hours to get there due to the volume of traffic and several badly placed sets of road works.
Upon arrival, it was apparent that getting to the ground wasn't just a struggle for the players, because by 2.30pm, we still didn't have a referee. So on the agreement of both teams, it was left to Tony Lee, Winsford's manager to referee the match, which I must say he did very well under the circumstances.
Winsford were hungry for the three points and started the game with a formation that was all out attack. But, Glossop had other idea's and put the Ladies under a lot of early pressure in the first half. The ladies didn't help themselves either, as they looked disjointed at times. In addition, some of the decision making, when and where to shoot from, their final ball and our passing in general was just not good enough.
The Ladies kept going and slugged it out in the mid-field, with Vicky Jones, Natasha Handy, Danielle Lydiate and Hanna Hewitson, all working hard to turn the tied of the Glossop pressure.
But it was Glossop who struck first, with a lovely passing move between their right winger and their striker, who expertly slid the ball past the stranded Winsford keeper, Jessica Moore. Glossop had intercepted yet another stray pass between the Winsford players and this time punished them for thier mistake. The Glossop striker, had been threatening to score all the way through the first half and if it wasn't for the Winsford back four of Rachel Robbins, Emma Johnson, Kathryn Hulme and Leanne Hudson, and their keeper Moore, then Glossop would have been in a much stronger position.
When the half time whistle blew, the Ladies knew they were in for a tough half time team talk. But in all fairness it was the Ladies themselves, who did the most of the talking and were very critical of their first half team and individual performances.
When the second half kicked off, Winsford went to work and started to play football, something they should have done earlier in the game. Glossop didn't lay down, they kept on fighting, but in the end they just couldn't cope with some lovely passing moves and fancy foot work from Danielle Lydiate and Sarah Lee through the middle. It wasn't long before Winsford broke the deadlock and scored the equalising goal, which was expertly finished by Lee. Lydiate put a perfectly weighted ball through the Glossop defence and Lee beat the offside trap, leaving the Glossop defence to argue amongst themselves.
Winsford turned up the heat on Glossop and went for the win and all three points. The Ladies continued to improved their individual and team performance during the second half and the better the Ladies played, the more goal scoring opportunities they had.
The Ladies started to pass and spread the ball well later in the second half and created some nice interlinking moves between mid-fielders Handy and Lydiate, and using their pacey wingers Jones and Hewitson, to put a barrage of passes and crosses into the Glossop 18-yard box, for their Strikers Lee and Jay Anderson. On the day, the scoreline should have been double figures in favour of the Winsford side. The Winsford's young 16-year old striker, Anderson's positional play and work rate was fantastic, but with a bit more experience under her belt, she will prove to be a great signing.
Winsford's second goal came from Lee again, who yet again broke through the Glossop defence, beating their offside trap, to cooly slot the ball home and give Winsford a well deserved 1 - 2 lead.
Winsford's back four kept the Glossop striker and quick right winger quiet during the second half, with Robbins and Johnson putting in excellent and confident performances.
The ladies raised their game, put in the effort and continued to punish Glossop defence, but their third and final goal of the afternoon came from an unlikely source. It was started from an interception by Robbins, who then passed the ball to Johnson, who then decided to go on a run. Johnson skillfully took the ball past several Glossop players and unleashed an unstoppable 35-yard shot, which looped over the stranded Glossop keeper and dipped just under the bar. Not only was the goal an amazing strike, but it was her debut goal for the Ladies team. Well Done!!!!!
On the day, Winsford derserved the three points, but will reflect on their overall performance, knowing that things will have to improve if they are to hold onto 5th position in the league standings, or even make a challenge for fourth spot.