<p>The Ladies Team were in need of a good performance and
overall that's what they delivered, but what they lacked
on the day was a bit of "lady luck".</p>
<p>The Ladies squad for Sunday, was made up of the following:
Jessica Moore was in nets.
The Defence was Rachel Robbins, Emma Johnson, Hanna Hewitson
and Leanne Hudson.
The Mid-field was Vicky Jones, Kylie Kettle, Danielle Lydiate
and Kathryn Hulme.
And Winsford's strikers were Anna Watt and Amy Hughes.</p>
<p>The first half kicked off and Winsford were straight in
at the off, passing the ball around between Lydiate, Kettle,
Watt and Hughes. Both Jones and Hulme out on the wings did
lots of running in support of their team mates, but didn't
see a great deal of the ball, as Winsford tried to break
down the Birkenhead defence, through the middle. But the
Birkenhead 18-yard box was very hard to penetrate.</p>
<p>The Ladies back four stood their ground and worked hard
to keep the two visiting strikers away from goal, with the
Winsford keeper having very little to deal with, except a few
interceptions and back passes to clear.</p>
<p>It was Birkenhead who were on top during the first half, as
they pushed Winsford back into their own half and pressed for
the goal that would break the deadlock. And it was also the
visitors who eventually broke that deadlock with a well taken
half volley from outside the 18-yard box, which beat the
Winsford keeper. The shot was ferocious, it flew past Moore
and clipped the underside of the cross bar before bulging the
back of the net. 1 nil to the visitors.</p>
<p>The Ladies tried to rally and get themselves back into the
game, but following an uncharacteristic mistake by the Winsford
defence, which the Birkenhead striker immediately pounced on,
the visitors scored a second goal. The striker picked up the
loose ball in the 18-yard box and as Moore came out to meet her,
protecting her near post she drove the ball across the box to
her team mate, who tapped the ball home. 2 nil to the visitors.</p>
<p>Winsford were happy to hear the whistle blow for the end of
the first half, so that they could catch their breath and sort
out what was going wrong with their plan of attack.</p>
<p>Winsford kicked off the second half and immediately went
all out to get back into the game. The Ladies were undeterred
at being two goals behind and were determined to reduce the
visitors lead. But shortly after the second half kicked off,
Lydiate was scythed down from behind and had to be carried off
and replaced by Jay Anderson. The resultant ankle injury to
Lydiate, may keep her out of action for the next couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this was not the end of the late and niggley
tackles, as it continued for the rest of the game, which just
added to the tension and frustrations felt by Winsford, as
precious time was wasted with treating injuries and then taking
of the subsequent free-kicks, and there were lots of them.</p>
<p>Winsford picked themselves up again and again, trying to
break down the Birkenhead defence, which they did several
times during the second half, when they hit the bar and post.</p>
<p>The Ladies eventually got their just deserts, following a
tackle just out side the Birkenhead 18-yard box. This time
it was Hewitson who stepped up to take the free-kick and what
a free-kick it was. Hewitson looped the ball over the Birkenhead
defensive wall and hit the underside of the cross bar, beating
keeper. But the ball didn't cross the line, it dropped into the
6-yard box and fell at the feet of Kettle, who tapped it home.</p>
<p>Most of the play was in the mid-field, where both teams
slogged it out for possession and that chance of taking the
lead. The tackling was at times, "unprofessional" and the
game was in desperate need of the referee taking charge to
calm things down between the two sides. However, illegal tackle
after tackle went either un-noticed or ignored by the referee.
Some of which warranted a Yellow Card not a warning and in
some instances the challenge warranted a straight Red Card,
due to the tackle being from behind and the player not getting
anywhere near the ball, but seriously injuring the Winsford
player.</p>
<p>It took until the last minute of the match for the referee
to actually step in and deal with the situation. Following an
attacking move by Birkenhead, Johnson intercepted a ball just
outside the Winsford 18-yard box, she got her body in between the
ball and the striker and before she could make a clearance, the
striker clipped her ankles twice and then physically shoved her
to the ground in a two handed push. Tempers flared as Johnson
picked herself up to confront the striker, but before it came
to blows, the referee found his cards and showed Johnson a
Yellow Card for unprofessional conduct and a Red Card to the
visiting striker for numerous warnings for infringements, late
tackles and blatant unprofessioinal conduct.</p>
<p>It was too little, too late for Winsford though.</p>
<p>Winsford's next match is away to Manchester Stingers on
Sunday 3rd October 2010.</p>