Town Women rue missed chances after cup defeat to Hull City
Town Women rue missed chances after cup defeat to Hull City
The Terriers are out of the FA WNL Cup following a disappointing 3-1 loss against the Tigresses
Town Women have only won one of their last six in all competitions. However, just like the Barnsley game on Thursday, this result could have easily gone differently had Town been able to put their chances to bed and avoid costly mistakes at the back. They are doing so many things right on the pitch, but they just can’t seem to do the most important thing: score goals.
Manager Glen Preston said: “Today is more about the performance than the result.
“I don’t know how we haven’t scored four or five goals today. We have been the dominant side for 75 out of the 90 minutes, but we have gift-wrapped their goals for them.
“Hopefully if we keep making these steps our performance will reach the next level. I do feel as though someone is on for a hiding somewhere. We looked dangerous in their half today and that is against tier three opposition.
“If we can start stringing that together at our level, someone is probably going to take a bit of a beating.”
Midfielder Ella Duffield played a more advanced role that often involved her drifting on to the right wing. She observed that this was a better fit for her and Town’s system.
Duffield said: “I spoke about it with Glen (pre-match) and we thought it was a lot more fluid. It is a lot easier to move with Leah (Embley), Autumn (Housley), and myself.
“We tore them to pieces down the right side, so it clearly worked.”
Initially, the gap of one division between the two sides seemed evident. In the first 15 minutes Hull City came flying out of the traps, pressing Town high and enforcing a barrage of attacks towards Town’s net.
Town were riding the wave of continued pressure for a while but eventually cracked, conceding from a preventable mistake. Lauren Joyce and Beth Stanfield weren’t on the same wavelength, playing the ball between them on their 18-yard box. This allowed Hull City’s Maddi Green to steal the ball off Stanfield and stick it beyond the helpless Joyce to score her first goal for the Tigresses.
Preston and his team clocked on to the fact that they weren’t going to be able to play directly through Hull City’s physically imposing defensive line, opting to stretch them with Kate Mallin and Leah Embley playing as wide as possible.
It was this tactical change that got the ball rolling for Town. They began to enjoy more possession in the opposition’s half, subsequently creating chances that almost pulled them level.
With Embley’s wide positioning, she gave herself plenty of time to whip some enticing balls into the danger area. Charlotte Stuart, who we have seen play through the entire spine of Town’s team this season, arrived later in the box and connected with a towering header that clattered against the post.
Minutes later Stuart latched onto a similar chance that forced Hull City’s Abi Wallace into a diving save, pushing the ball towards Embley who fired the ball into the net to pull Town level.
Town continued on the front foot. Scarlett McMahon showed her awareness when she squared the ball across the box to Mallin who nearly had the full goal to aim at from eight yards. Unfortunately, her shot flew over the bar.
Town had done well to get themselves level and should have been ahead at the break. Preston will be particularly disappointed that it only took Hull City three minutes of the second half to retake the lead.
As frustrating as it may have been for Town, not much could have prevented Hope Knight’s half-volleyed strike into the bottom corner. It was especially disappointing that Town could have been ahead and were now trailing.
Stuart had another header that went inches wide. Then, Town were once again caught playing the ball around their own area. Green nicked the ball off the defence, this time playing it across the box for Shakala Brookes to make it three for Hull City.
Town kept searching for ways to get back into the game, whether it was through Embley or subsitute Molly Firth, but every time the ball dropped into the box, it was crowded out by bodies in orange and black.
The game would likely be described by most as ‘frustrating’, with Town having enough chances to score four or five times. When you also consider the fact that they effectively gifted Hull two of their three goals, the outcome could have been very different.
Up next for Town Women: An away trip back to the North-East as Town take on Durham in a 2 p.m. kick-off.
