Northern Ireland's Road to Canada (Game 3)

 

Northern Ireland played host to Poland on Saturday in the World Cup Qualifiers with both teams looking for all 3 points in this Group 4 match.  On a cold afternoon at Mourneview Park, both teams were only getting into the game when Patrycja Pozerska fired the ball past Emma Higgins into the back of the net, much to the delight of the vociferous Polish fans in the far side of the stand.

 

Northern Ireland had a few shots on goal but with some great blocks by the Polish goalkeeper the game remained one nil until the referee pointed to the penalty spot on the 29^th minute after Winczo was fouled by Aimee Mackin.  Pozerska stepped up and scored her second of the game. 

 

Magill and Furness both had attempts before half time but the home side just couldn’t find the back of the net.

 

The second half started a bit better for Northern Ireland as they worked hard and created chances.  The home fans were getting more and more frustrated with decisions given against them and that was to continue when the referee awarded another soft penalty to Poland on the 60^th minute. 

 

Nicole Krzysik stepped up this time but her strike hit the woodwork and Northern Ireland were saved from going 3 down.  The Polish fans continued to sing and jump up and down cheering on their team but there wasn’t much for the home fans to cheer about.

 

With a few decent shots on goal for Nothern Ireland later on in the second half Magdalena Szaj made sure she secured all 3 points by making it 3 nil to Poland in the closing minutes of the game.  Northern Ireland worked hard but with just one point in 3 games they will be looking to improve in the qualifying games in 2014.

 

 

Champions League Last 16, Second Leg

The last eight teams have now been decided in the UEFA Women’s Champions League having progressed to Thursday’s draw to see who they will be playing in the quarter finals. 

After a 3-0 win against Glasgow City in the first leg, Arsenal travelled to Petershill on Wednesday with a good advantage.  However Glasgow weren’t going to give up on their European aspirations, with a spirited second leg performance.  Within 2 minutes Suzanne Lappin had put the home side in the lead before Rachel Yankey made it one-all 10 minutes later.

The visitors then had to wait until the 69^th minute before another goal was scored, this time from Jordan Nobbs however Glasgow City Captain Rachel Corsie brought them right back into it at 2- 2 with 10 minutes to go. 

The game stayed level until Alex Scott finished off the scoring in injury time making it 3-2 on the night, a convincing but hard-fought aggregate score of 6-2 to Arsenal.

Birmingham City played Russian Champions Zorky at St Andrews on the same night.  They went into this game with the upper hand after winning 2-0 in Russia. Isobel Christiansen and Kirsty Linnet put the home side 2 up early on in the first half before Maria Ruiz and Ashley Nick equalised for Zorky before half time.

Linnet scored again in the second half along with team mates Kerys Harrop and Melissa Lawley to make the final score 5-2 (aggregate 7-2).

The following teams are in the draw for the Quarter Finals which will be decided on Thursday, all hoping to make it to the final in the Estadio do Restelo, Lisbon in May:

FFC Turbine Potsdam (GER)

Arsenal LFC (ENG)

ASD Torres CF (ITA)

Birmingham City LFC (ENG)

FC Barcelona (ESP)

SV Neulengbach (AUT)

Tyreso FF (SWE)

VFL Wolfsburg (GER)

Profiles of each of these clubs can be found here: Uefa.com

*images from Glasgow City & Birmingham City websites

Champions League Update - Last 16

Arsenal welcomed Glasgow City to The Hive yesterday afternoon in the first leg of the so-called “Battle of Britain.” The WSL team dominated the match and came away with a 3-0 win. 

It took Arsenal just 14 minutes to find the back of the net with a goal from Captain Stephanie Houghton.  Danielle Carter made it 2-0 just before the half time break.

Ellen White then finished off the scoring with her goal in the second half.  Arsenal travel to Petershill in Glasgow for the second leg on Wednesday evening, kick off is 7pm.

Birmingham City had a tough away trip to Russian side FC Zorky for their tie.  The Blues opened the scoring in the 27^th minute thanks to Isobel Christiansen. 

Josanne Potter made it 2-0 in the second half to give Birmingham an upper hand when going into the second leg on Wednesday at St Andrews, kick off is also 7pm.

*images from UEFA.com

Road To Canada 2015

 

Northern Ireland Ladies welcomed Bosnia & Herzegovina to Mourneview Park on Wednesday night for their second game in the World Cup Qualifiers.  The game ended in a scoreless draw.

Aimee Mackin and Sarah McFadden both came close to scoring in the first half but both were denied by some fine goalkeeping by Almina Hodzic.  There were a few more chances in the second half with the best one coming in stoppage time when Glasgow City defender Julie Nelson hit the top of the crossbar from a free kick.

Northern Ireland were unlucky not to come away with 3 points but will now be looking forward to their next game in the qualifiers against Poland on 23rd November

 

Scotland continued their winning form yesterday away to Poland to keep them top of Group 4.

Jane Ross helped Scotland go into half time with a 2 nil lead and finished off her first international hat trick with a goal at the beginning of the second half.  Jo Love secured the fourth goal in the 65^th minute giving the blues their fourth win of the campaign.

Scotland aren’t involved in the qualifiers again until next April when they welcome Poland to Fir Park.

England also continued their winning run in the campaign with a 4-0 victory in Turkey.  It took only 10 minutes for Eniola Aluko to find the back of the net followed shortly after by a penalty by Fara Williams. 

England dominated the game and in the second half Toni Duggan and Jordan Nobbs finished off the scoring and keeping England top of Group 6.

England's next World Cup qualifier is against Montenegro next April.

*images from Irish Fa, STV & The Independent

International Round Up

Northern Ireland kicked off their World Cup Qualifiers with a trip to Scotland on Saturday.   Jane Ross scored her first international goal within 3 minutes.  Northern Ireland held on strong and defended well at a rainy Fir Park and had a few shots on goal with Sarah McFadden narrowly going over the crossbar just before half time.

 

It took until the 78^th minute for Scotland to increase the lead with a goal from Montpellier defender, Jennifer Beattie.  The Scots continued with the pressure and looked impressive passing the ball around the pitch. 

 

Goalkeeper Emma Higgins committed herself and prevented the lead from increasing further but ended up suffering a few knocks in the closing stages of the match. 

Scotland finished this game top of Group 4 with 9 points in their 3 games of the campaign so far. Northern Ireland were the only team in Group 4 who hadn’t played a game until Saturday.

 

England welcomed neighbours Wales to The Den on Saturday night.  England dominated the match but couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half. 

 

Jordan Nobbs and Toni Duggan ensured that England kept their 100% record of the Qualifiers keeping them at the top of Group 6 after 3 games.  Wales are sitting in second place, a game behind England. 

 

Welsh captain Jess Fishlock injured her wrist in the first half and had to leave the field of play in the second half.  This later was confirmed as a broken wrist and leaves her in doubt for their next game against Montenegro.

 

Northern Ireland host Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday evening while Scotland are away to Poland and England are away to Turkey on Thursday.

 

More results and fixtures can be found at Uefa.com

 

*images from SFA & BBC

British Trio Book Place in Last 16 of Champions League

Arsenal, Birmingham and Glasgow City all booked their place in the last 16 of the Women’s Champions League.  The 3 British teams had impressive wins in the second leg of their games which were played on Wednesday and Thursday.

Birmingham City played Finish side Pk-35 on Wednesday afternoon, winning the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Chelsea Weston.  Birmingham already had the upper hand as they had come away with a 3-0 win in Finland in the first leg.

SSHVSM-Kairat arrived in London to play Arsenal with a 7-1 defeat clearly playing on their mind.  It would have been a tough task if they were to gain anything from the second leg.  Arsenal dominated this fixture with an 11-1 win.  Goals came from Carter (x4), Little (x3), Nobbs (x2) and one goal each for White and Weir. 

On Thursday night Glasgow City took on Belgium side Standard Liege in a 7pm kick off.  Both sides had all to play for after a 2-2 draw in Belgium the week before.  It took 15 minutes before the deadlock was broken by Suzanne Malone making it 1-0 to the Glasgow side.  Two more goals followed by O’Sullivan and Crilly before a late goal by Wullaert made it 3-1 on the night (5-3 on aggregate)

This leads to exciting ties between Glasgow City and Arsenal Ladies next month while Birmingham City take on Russian side Zorkiy.  Games will be played on the 8^th & 13^th November. 

Star Quality in the U17 Elite Tournament

Yesterday Northern Ireland held the first of 6 games in the Elite Round Group 4 European Championship (U17 women).  I went along to Solitude in Belfast to watch the 2pm game which was between the current World Champions (France) and the current European Champions (Poland).

It was a great experience to have the chance to watch two very talented sides with future stars in the making.  It took 26 minutes before one of them could break the deadlock and that came from a goal from Marine Julian for the World Champions.  Until then the game had been quite even with both sides playing very good football.

France began to assert a physical edge to their play on the pitch, resulting in a goal in the 32^nd minute, Anissa Lahmari allowing les bleues to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The second half really showed France’s strength and dominance on the pitch.  They looked powerful and positive.  Poland kept at it though but were unable to find the back of the net.  Due to a couple of injuries there was 4 minutes of added on time in the second half and with one minute left to go, substitute Manon Uffen made it 3-0 to France.

Northern Ireland played Sweden last night but unfortunately I was unable to attend this game.  Sweden had 19 shots at goal during the match but it ended 2-0 to Sweden with both goals coming from the number 17, Rebecka Blomqvist in the 28^th and 56^th minutes. 

The next games are being played on Monday with Poland v Sweden at 2pm at Ballymena Showgrounds and France v Northern Ireland being held at Stangmore Park, Dungannon at 7pm

Champions League Update

Yesterday was a busy day in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.  We are down to the last 32 and with 3 British teams in the competition I was watching my twitter feed and hoping that they all came away with at least a draw. 

Arsenal headed to Kazakhstan to face CSHVSM-Kairat where they came away with an impressive 7-1 victory.  Goals from Little (2), Carter, Nobbs, Chapman, Yankey & Ayisi made sure The Gunners go into their home tie with a comfortable cushion of away goals.

PK-35 hosted Birmingham in their tie yesterday.   Birmingham beat the Finnish side 3-0 with goals from Lawley, Linnett & Harrop.

Glasgow City had a tough match against Standard Liege in Belgium.  Suzanne Lappin helped the Scottish Champions to a 2-2 draw and they will be hoping for a win next week on home turf.

Second leg will be played next Tuesday & Wednesday. 

More information available at uefa.com

Trophy Wins for Liverpool & Arsenal

A lot of things happened in women’s football while I was on holiday.  I seemed to miss the most exciting week of the season while I was enjoying a much needed break in the sun. 

We had to wait until the last day of the season to crown the WSL Champions and this year Liverpool Ladies took that title after an impressive season.  Arsenal had won the last 7 WSL titles but finished a close third in the league this year.

Liverpool went into the game 2 points ahead of second placed Bristol Academy but thanks to a penalty by Louise Fors and a Katrin Omarsdottir goal they took the 3 points and finished top of the league. 

The final standings are shown below:

Team	Plyd	Pts
Liverpool Ladies	14	36
Bristol Academy Women	14	31
Arsenal Ladies	14	30
Birmingham City Ladies	14	18
Everton Ladies	14	15
Lincoln Ladies	14	10
Chelsea Ladies	14	10
Doncaster Rovers Belles	14	10

Lincoln Ladies also played their last ever game before changing to Notts County Ladies.  It was the Lady Imps first Continental Cup Final and they played well but missed out on a victory by two late goals by Arsenal.   Ellen White and Kim Little made sure that Arsenal added another trophy to their cabinet.

*Images from FAWSL

Keeping The Title In Reach

What a season it has been for Glasgow City! They dropped their only point of the season so far on Sunday when they drew 0-0 with Rangers Ladies but with 4 games to go the current Champions are looking to keep the trophy in the cabinet for another year.

With the SWF Premier League Cup already won, I am sure they want to add to their success and what better way than to win another league title.

The ladies can certainly score goals! So far they have scored 87 goals in the league this season with  midfield Suzanne Lappin totalling up 19 goals and young Sarah Crilly hitting the back of the net 12 times.   

They also have Champions League football to look forward to with a game against Standard Liege on the 9/10 October.

Glasgow City's next game is away to second place Hibs who are currently 11 points behind the leaders.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Glasgow City	17	16	1	0	87	7	80	49
2	Hibernian	17	12	2	3	78	25	53	38
3	Spartans	17	9	2	6	43	35	8	29
4	Rangers	17	8	3	6	46	28	18	27
5	Celtic	17	8	3	6	38	26	12	27
6	Aberdeen	17	8	1	8	26	40	-14	25
7	Forfar Farmington	17	9	4	4	55	31	24	31
8	Hamilton Academical	17	9	2	6	49	37	12	29
9	Hutchison Vale	17	5	1	11	36	61	-25	16
10	Buchan	17	3	2	12	31	70	-39	11
11	Kilwinning	16	2	1	13	16	85	-69	7
12	Falkirk Ladies	16	1	0	15	17	77	-60	3

World Cup Qualifiers 21/22 September 2013

The Group stage of the World Cup 2015 Qualifiers starts next weekend.  The World Cup is being held in Canada in 2015 with the host nations automatically qualifying. 

The last World Cup in 2011 was won by Japan.

England Host Belarus at Dean Court, Bournemouth on Saturday (KO: 2pm) and Kelly Smith, Steph Houghton & Rachel Yankey where in Bournemouth earlier in the week promoting the game!

On Sunday Republic of Ireland host Solvakia at Carlisle Grounds, Dublin with a 2pm kick off and Scotland are away to the Faroe Islands with a 6.15pm kick off.

Group stageThose four teams join the remaining 38 entrants in seven groups of six nations drawn on 16 April 2013 and played from 20/21 September 2013 to 17 September 2014 on a home-and-away basis. The seven group winners qualify for the finals. The four runners-up with the best record against the sides first, third, fourth and fifth in their groups go into the play-offs for the remaining UEFA berth in Canada.

More info can be found at http://www.uefa.com/womensworldcup/season=2015/matches/index.html

The Point of this Blog

So I am new to blogging and new to getting myself involved with women's football.

I have always had a passion for football and over the last year or so I have found myself getting more and more frustrated with the lack of advertising, promotion and enthusiasm for ladies football.  It's something I became passionate about and something I wanted to change.

I want to use this blog to help promote as well as inform fans of the beautiful game about what's going on with women's football in the UK.