Women's football news
FA Women’s Premier League
Sunday 25 March
Lewes continued their good form, adding a dominant 3-0 league victory on Sunday to Thursday night’s Sussex FA Challenge Cup victory.
John Donoghue had warned his players that QPR’s recent form bellied their lowly league position. Lewes, focused from the start, controlled the match throughout, striking the woodwork three times before opening the scoring at the end of the first half.
Dani Lane (header) and Kylie McCarthy (close-range strike) crashed efforts of either upright before Leeta Rutherford side-stepped a defender to hammer a fierce shot past former Lewes ‘keeper Lauren Dolbear, only to see the ball smack the crossbar.
Sarah Kempson, who alongside Rutherford and skipper Kate McIntyre ran the match from midfield, started the move to open the scoring. Her slide-rule pass to Georgia Bridges was cut out by the sliding Amy Glynn. The ball span into the path of Rebecca Carter who ran on before sliding a cool finish past Dolbear. HT 1-0
The second half saw more of the same, Lewes attacking on the flanks through Avilla Bergin and Vicky Carleton, QPR’s well-drilled defence working hard to block the final ball. Lewes racked up a serious corner count, with McIntyre delivering from the left and Kempson the right, but aside from a Kempson in-swinger striking the far post, the visitors dealt with the danger.
Lewes doubled their tally from a fine, flowing move in open play. Rutherford released Bergin who set off down the left, playing the ball inside to Carter. Blocked, she found Kempson who played a clever pass behind Glynn for Bergin on the overlap. Her cross found Bridges who laid off to Dani Lane, her fierce shot deflecting off the heel of Odeniyi before it flew into the net. 2-0.
The best was yet to come. Bergin’s throw found Rutherford. Her high ball in was headed clear but intercepted by Carleton, deflecting the ball at chest height towards Kempson, who somehow adjusted her body to steer the ball high past Dolbear and into the top left corner from just inside the box. A stunning goal to seal the win that brought the crowd to their feet.
Despite a very strong claim against McCarthy for a penalty late on, Rangers were unable to get back into the game. FT 3-0.
Lewes manager John Donoghue was pleased with the approach of his players.
‘It’s good to get back to league action and come away with the three points. We were physically strong on Thursday (against Crawley Wasps) and it was good that we brought that into today’s game. We had a lot of opportunities, some that came back off the bar and off the posts, so it was good to get the goal before halftime and then score some quality goals in the second half.’
MvP: Dani Lane
Attendance: 202
Lewes:
Baker, Thompson-Agbro, Rutherford, McCarthy, Bergin, McIntyre, Kempson, Lane, Carleton, Carter, Bridges Subs: Taylor, Wells, Owen, Goldsmid, Love
Next home match: Sunday 8th April v Gillingham