WSL Back In Action

The WSL kicked off again at the weekend after a short break which saw Arsenal and Oxford United collecting their first wins of the season.

Saturday saw 2 games in the WSL 2 with Reading beating Aston Villa 3-1 and Sunderland winning 2-0 against newcomers Yeovil Town which puts them top of the WSL 2 table.

The other WSL 3 games were played on Sunday afternoon.  The Millwall Lionesses and Donny Belles played out a 0-0 draw.  Durham lost 2-1 at home to Oxford United while the spectators at The Hive were entertained with a 9 goal thriller London Bees losing  5-4 to Watford.  Midfielder Kate Natkiel bagged a hat trick for Watford in this fixture.

It was a great weekend for women’s football fans like me who live too far away to attend games as 2 of the WSL 1 games were live on BT Sport.  Arsenal got their first win of the campaign with a win over the champions Liverpool.  Casey Stoney headed in the only goal of the game in the 55^th minute.

The second game at the Select Stadium saw Everton take on Chelsea.  Nikita Parris and Eniola Aluko had the team’s level until Chelsea’s new signing Portuguese striker Ana Borges came on as a sub and bagged the winner for the London side.

In the other WSL 1 fixture, Birmingham beat Manchester City 2-0 with goals from Kirsty Linnett and Kerys Harrop keeping them top of the table with an unbeaten record in the league so far.

Arsenal Ladies Retain FA Cup

Arsenal lifted the FA Cup for the 13th time on Sunday after beating Everton 2-0 at Milton Keynes.  It was manager Shelly Kerr’s last game in charge following her resignation last week and while her team may be bottom of the WSL 1 they certainly didn’t look like a team that will be involved in the relegation battle at the end of the season.

Captain Kelly Smith fired a free kick from outside the box straight past Rachel Brown-Finnis to put the Gunners in the lead. Smith’s experience showed and she remained influential throughout the game, later setting up Japanese star Yukari Kinga to make it 2-0.

Everton did have a few attempts on goal but Arsenal dominated this match and their determination paid off.  Rachel Yankey, who lifted her 11th FA Cup, hit the post and Alex Scott forced Brown-Finnis to pull off an excellent save.

Danielle Carter arguable deserved a goal after her many attempts to find the back of the net but it just wasn’t her day.

After a number of players left Arsenal before the start of the season and a new manager on their way, this is both an exciting and interesting period for England’s most successful women’s football club. This FA Cup could well be the turning point this season.

*Image taken from arsenal.com/ladies

Weekend Round Up - England & Scotland

The FAWSL 1 was back in action at the weekend and Toni Duggan helped secure Manchester City’s first points in the campaign when they beat Arsenal 1-0.  Birmingham City also took all 3 points by winning 2-1 against Chelsea. 

Notts County and Liverpool remained on the same points and joint top of the table by holding out to a 0-0 draw in Nottingham.  Everton and Bristol Academy also took away a point each from their game with a 1-1 draw.

Home teams dominated in the FAWSL 2 at the weekend.  Doncaster Belles and Sunderland continued their winning form with the Belles beating Watford 2-0 and Sunderland winning 1-0 against London Bees.

The league’s top scorer Fran Kirby added a hat trick with Lois Roche scoring the other goal, as Reading took all 3 points against Durham in a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

The league’s top scorer Fran Kirby added a hat trick with Lois Roche scoring the other goal, as Reading took all 3 points against Durham in a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

The Scottish Cup fixtures were played yesterday along with the SWPL.  In the SWPL Glasgow City continued their unbeaten run at the top of the table by finding the back of the net 9 times against Hutchinson Vale. Hibernian also scored 9 goals in their 9-1 victory over Buchan.

Another high tally on the goal sheet went to Spartans who managed an impressive 11-0 victory over Inverness

In the other results Aberdeen beat Forfar Farmington 7-2, Celtic won 8-1 against Queens Park and Rangers beat Hamilton 2-0. 

There were some impressive results in the Scottish Cup too with an average of 9.2 goals in the 19 games that were played.  The result of the weekend goes to Cowdenbeath who beat Fairfield 32-0.  The results of the Scottish Cup are below:

Hearts	8	Kemnay	1
Motherwell	3	Claremount	1
Aberdeen Reserves	4	Edinburgh Caledonia	0
Hibernian Development	7	Hamilton Caledonian	0
Hearts Development	7	Turriff United	0
Livingston	1	Glasgow Girls	6
Edinburgh South	4	Queen of the South	2
Elgin City	1	Falkirk Ladies	12
Stonehaven	8	Caithness Ladies	1
Fairfield	0	Cowdenbeath	32
Falkirk FC	0	Falkirk Ladies Reserves	4
Seton Ladies	0	Boroughmuir Thistle	14
Dundee City	3	Renfrew	4
Dunfermline Athletic	17	Boroughmuir Jags	0
Spartans Reserves	12	Forfar Farmington Ladies	0
Riverside	3	Stranraer	0
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy	0	Jeanfield Swifts	10
Mill United	4	East Fife	2
Dee Ladies	1	Murieston United	3

Weekend Round Up

It was a busy weekend in women’s football.  WSL 1 had a break due to the FA cup games being played but WSL 2 was busy with Doncaster Belles starting off the weekend with a 5-2 win over Reading at the Keepmoat Stadium.  

There were 4 games on Saturday with wins for Sunderland, Watford and Yeovil Town along with a 2-2 draw between the Lionesses and Bees. 

It was also the quarter finals of the FA Women’s Cup.  The away teams progressed through to the Semi Finals.  Notts County beat Portsmouth 2-0, the only non-WSL team that was left in the competition while Everton put out city rivals Liverpool and Chelsea beat newcomers Manchester City. 

Birmingham and Arsenal have yet to play their match as Birmingham were in Tyreso on Saturday for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi Final.  The Blues played well and although Brazilian star Marta missed a penalty, Tyreso managed to win 3-0. 

Wolfsburg beat Potsdam 4-1 in the other Semi Final which leads to a Tyreso and Wolfsburg final next month in Lisbon.

 Weekend Results

Doncaster Rovers Belles	5	Reading	2
Aston Villa	0	Sunderland	3
Durham	1	Watford	2
Milwall Lionesses	2	London Bees	2
Oxford United	0	Yeovil Town	1

FA Cup

Portsmouth	0	Notts County	2
Liverpool	0	Everton	2
Manchester City	1	Chelsea	3

Goals Galore

It was a goal madness Sunday in The SWPL with a sensational 50 goals scored in 6 matches.  Spartans were scoring for fun in an impressive 16-0 win over Forfar Farmington.  Inverness and Buchan were both on the receiving end of 10-0 thrashing by Glasgow City and Celtic respectively.

Second in the league Rangers Ladies took all 3 points in a 3-0 home win against Hibernian and Aberdeen beat Hamilton 3-2 while the only draw of the weekend was between Hutchison Vale and Queens Park in a thrilling 3-3 draw.  

Northern Ireland 0 Sweden 4

Shamrock Park was the venue for Northern Ireland’s World Cup Qualifier against Sweden on Saturday night.  Sweden, who lost out to Germany in the final of the Euro Championships last year, looked strong from the start. 

Within the first ten minutes, Sweden were awarded a penalty after a foul by Jessica Doran on Hanna Folkesson and Kosovare Asllani made no mistake in making it 1-0 to the away team before  Lotta Schelin made it 2-0 shortly afterwards.  Newry City’s Aimee Mackin had a couple of shots on goal before half time but failed to hit the target. 

Sweden continued to pile on the pressure in the second half and it was no surprise when Emma Lundh and Lina Nilsson sealed the victory for Sweden in the closing stages of the match giving the away team a 4-0 win and a 100% record in the qualifiers so far.  This was a comprehensive defeat by a team with many World class stars within their ranks.

Northern Ireland have only managed one point from four games in the campaign and have yet to find the back of the net.  They travel to the Faroe Islands for their next game this Thursday.

Earlier on Saturday, Scotland who are also in Group 4, maintained their unbeatable run in the qualifiers by beating Poland 2-0 thanks to goals by Lisa Evans and Leanne Crichton.

In other groups, England beat Montenegro 9-0, Wales also took 3 points away to Turkey with a 5-1 victory and Rep of Ireland were unlucky to lose 3-2 to Germany in the 91st minute.

Man City Ladies Aiming High

Manchester City Ladies were granted access into the new FA WSL for the 2014 / 2015 season.  The former Premier League side will join Liverpool, Birmingham City, Bristol Academy, Chelsea, Everton, Notts County (formerly known as Lincoln Ladies) and Arsenal.

The Sky Blues named Nick Cushing as their First Team Coach and Leigh Wood as Head Coach to manage them in their first season in the top flight.  The Management haven’t been shy when it comes to spending money and signing the best players to help them challenge for the title next season.  They have already added 4 experienced England Internationalists in Jill Scott, Karen Bardsley, Toni Duggan and Steph Houghton.

Jill Scott and Toni Duggan both joined the Manchester side from Everton.  Duggan who was voted England Women’s Under 23 Player of the Year said of the move "I was at Everton from a young age and they've done so much for me.  As I say, I can't thank them enough but sometimes you just need a fresh challenge and I want to better myself as a player."  

Former Lincoln Ladies Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley also spoke on her delight of joining the Sky Blues and her ambitions for the seasons ahead.  The California born but England Internationalist will be able to add experience and dedication to the squad.  When interviewed for mcfc.co.uk she stated that "My aim is to win as many football games as possible and to enjoy myself in the process. My long-term aim is to become a formidable member of the WSL and to win trophies." 

Steph Houghton has also agreed to a 3 year Contract at Manchester City starting today (1^st January) leaving the current cup double winners Arsenal.  Houghton has played over 40 games for England and was in the GB squad in 2012.  Houghton is a versatile player who can play in most outfield positions, she will also be wanting to get her name on the score sheet at times too.

*images from mcfc.co.uk