Chesterfield Ladies maintained their excellent run of form on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Basford United Ladies 1-0 at Greenwich Avenue in a hard-fought contest in the East Midlands Women’s Premier Division.
Georgina Williams scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half to secure all three points for Mike Noon’s side and collect her 17th goal of the season in all competitions.
The first half saw few clear-cut chances for either side but Chesterfield Ladies posed more of a threat in possession in comparison to the opposition. The opening 20 minutes in particular were a very cagey affair with both sides cancelling each other out. The game began to open up a little in Chesterfield’s favour from this point on though.
A measured through ball from Shannon Purdy put midfielder Kel Fidler in a promising position but the Basford goalkeeper was left untested as her attempt was dragged a few yards wide of the post. Teenage centre-half Millie Jebb-Geer managed to force the goalkeeper into action in the 22nd minute when her shot from 20 yards out was held.
60 seconds later though, Chesterfield Ladies made the breakthrough with a classic Georgina Williams goal. The forward’s raw pace allowed her to battle her way past her marker and into the penalty area. With just the goalkeeper left to beat, Williams slotted the ball confidently past her and the ball found the back of the net after going in off the post to make it 1-0.
Basford’s best opportunity of the whole game arrived just after the half hour mark when an initial close-range effort was well blocked by full-back Emmi Cook before a second quick-fire attempt was smartly saved and held by Nic Watson between the sticks.
Kel Fidler had a good opportunity to double Chesterfield’s lead right on the stroke of half-time when her effort from 15 yards flashed narrowly over the cross bar before hitting the station.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. The opening 15 minutes saw a very tight affair with chances at a premium before the game once again opened up in Chesterfield’s favour.
Georgina Williams had a good opportunity to bag her second goal of the match just after the hour mark. A lovely through ball from young debutant striker Sophie Marshall allowed Williams to break a couple of yards ahead of Basford’s back line; however, her lobbed attempt was claimed comfortably by the Basford goalkeeper. Five minutes afterwards, Williams fired a shot on target from 20 yards out but her attempt was straight at the keeper.
The visitors then had two huge opportunities to kill the game off in the latter stages of the game with the hosts throwing everything forward in search of a late equaliser.
Another smart through ball put Williams into a great position but the goalkeeper worked her angles well and made a great save in the 87th minute to deny the in-form forward from adding to her goal tally.
Williams was presented with another big opportunity at the start of stoppage time when the Basford goalkeeper found herself out of position but Chesterfield’s top goal scorer steered the ball narrowly wide of the post from 15 yards out.
Despite some very late pressure from the hosts, Chesterfield Ladies held on to secure a 1-0 victory which keeps them in second position in the table and ensures that the title race stays wide open between themselves, Notts County Women and Lincoln United Women.
Huge credit must go to Chesterfield Ladies for passing a tough test with a very young squad due to a number of injuries to senior players. The average age of Mike Noon’s match day squad was just under 22 and teenage players such as Millie Jebb-Geer, Sophie Marshall, Emmi Cook and Lydia Pascoe all made key contributions to help secure the three points.
Chesterfield Ladies team: Watson, Cook, Warren, Jebb-Geer, Anderson, Pashley (capt.), Fidler, Frances-Creaser, Marshall, Williams, Purdy.
Used substitutes: Pascoe, Phillips.
Unused substitutes: Falleth, Naylor, Ratcliffe.
Comments