Wednesday Week 6 was the start of the Northern Conference Cup for women’s football. After receiving a bye in the first round of the tournament, Lancaster were drawn to face the University Chester (Warrington campus) away in the second round. After a disappointing start to the season with two unfortunate losses, Lancaster were determined to kick off their cup run with a strong result.
The usual pre-match warm-ups and motivational team talks took place before the referee blew the whistle for the game to begin. It was Lancaster to kick off and they didn’t hesitate to push for a goal straight from the off, passing and moving through Chester’s formation. Their confidence paid off and they went 1-0 up in the first few minutes of the game, after a composed finish from Carmel Daniel.
Lancaster didn’t stop there, with a second goal for Daniel and a superb finish from Abby Kelly minutes later, making it 3-0 to the away team just ten minutes in. The goals kept on coming for Lancaster with a further three goals for striker Daniel, another for Kelly, three for Victoria Wood, one for Laura Godsmark and one for Anya Townsend. At this point, after a discussion between the referee and both team’s coaches, it was decided that the game would be cut short to thirty five minutes each half. The score stood at 12-0 to Lancaster at half time.
As the second half kicked off, Chester’s frustration was beginning to show as some of their challenges became messy and more physical. Lancaster were determined to keep composure until the end of the game and keep a clean sheet. Three more goals were scored by the away team in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. The first two were scored by half time substitutes Sarah Padley and President Monica Crewe. The third came from a well-placed corner from Crewe, finished by Captain Natasha Dunn.
Before the shortened second half was over, Lancaster secured two more goals. Chester continued to fight but fatigue and frustration was inevitable after all the pressure from their opposition. The first of the final two goals came from a long distance finish from Crewe (her second of the game) and the last of the game was a second goal for Townsend.
The final score was 17-0 to Lancaster, a massive win for the reds. It’s looking like women’s football are going to have a very successful cup run this year.
