Women's football news
Written by: Jack
Lewes took home an important three-points from Yorkshire on Sunday beating Sheffield United 3-2 at Bramall Lane.
It was a game that the Rooks started very brightly and were frequently looking to get in behind the Blades’ backline.
Ellie Mason and Emily Kraft were posing a real physical threat up top and it was almost an early goal when Mason snatched it off Blades ‘keeper Fran Stenson. Stenson recovered, however, and Mason couldn’t quite direct it on target.
It was Sheffield United who struck first though when we failed to defend a corner that left Sweetman-Kirk with a free hit on goal.
The Rooks responded well and instantly put the home side back under-pressure. The equaliser soon came when Amelia Hazard put a great ball in across goal, and following a ‘dummy’ from Kraft, it found its way to Kirsty Barton who smashed home emphatically.
Into the second-half and Lewes wasted no time in going for the second. The lead came just two-minutes in when Amber-Keegan Stobbs’ sensational clearance come assist, put Mason clean-through on goal and she thumped it home into the top corner.
Unfortunately it was a lead short-lived and the Blades were soon back level thanks to a brilliant free-kick delivery which was turned in by Naomi Hartley at the back post.
Lewes kept pressing on though and didn’t let the equaliser affect the mentality. Less than 10 minutes later they found themselves back in front when Grace Palmer produced an incredible ball over the top and the speed of Mason was too much to handle for United and she coolly slotted past Stenson.
Scott Booth’s side managed the game well beyond this point and limited the home side to very few chances, eventually holding on for a big away win.
Speaking after the game, Scott was disappointed with the goals conceded but delighted with the win.
“I think the players showed a lot of character. To be honest, I think the first-half we were totally in control, albeit not a lot of pretty football played but I think we played the better football.
“Ultimately though, we have to learn how to deal with set-plays, you’ve got to head the ball, and we’ve be done from two set-plays.
“When you come away from home in tight games, it makes such a difference if you can defend those situations better. If we defend them better, we may well have won 3-0.
“To be fair to Sheffield United, the quality of ball in was fantastic for the free-kick, we just didn’t jump and win the ball for the corner. But other than that we limited them.
“I felt the only opportunities they had was where we could have been a bit more composed in our clearances and general play from middle to front.”
And in terms of individual performances, he spoke of the goals from Ellie and the positive development of Grace.
“The great thing though is that we’ve scored three goals away from home, and Mason had a couple more chances as well, she’s always capable of scoring goals. She’s got a lot of really strong attributes and we had the real quality to hurt them in behind.
“Grace is doing really, really well, she’s learning all the time, she’s developing all the time, and she’s very young but she’s had a lot of game time this season. We’ve seen already, that she’s a player constantly developing and getting better every game.”
HIGHLIGHTS – Sheffield United vs. Lewes
Our next home game is on Sunday 2 April vs. Coventry United. You can buy tickets here.