Workington Reds Ladies moved through to the semi-final of the Cumberland County Cup with a 5-0 win at Silloth against Abbeytown Junior Ladies.
The fixture had been postponed from the previous weekend as the pitch was unplayable after the county had been battered by wind and heavy rain. The weather conditions had improved massively seven days later on and so had the playing surface thanks to the hard work of the Silloth FC staff during the week.
The game was really well supported with plenty of spectators around the pitch and with both teams contributing to a competitive game of football.
The Reds started of brightly and after seven minutes some good link up play in the final third, saw Hannah Geen find Chloe Henderson in space and she set herself before slotting home the first goal.
A spirited Abbeytown team, undeterred by this setback, took the challenge to the Reds and enjoyed good spells of play but the Reds defence stayed composed and limited their chances to attempts from distance.
The Reds repeatedly tested the Abbeytown defence and were through on a few more occasions only to be thwarted by the Abbeytown keeper Lisa Hodgson and her defenders. However, as the half was drawing to an end the Ladies struck twice.
The first on 42 minutes saw Henderson returning Geen’s earlier favour as her pass set her through on goal to find the back of the net.
Two minutes later it was Henderson’s turn to assist Sophie Birkett who’s goal proved to be fair reward for her efforts down the right in the first half.
It was a case of same again in the second half for the Reds ladies as they built good passages of play through retaining possession and producing good link-up play but again the Abbeytown defence stayed strong with keeper Hodgson coming out to smother the ball well on numerous occasions. In the 59th minute strong individual play in the middle of the park from Caitlin Davis saw her create space for herself and the lively Geen. Davis remained composed and played a through-ball for Geen to finish off and make it 4-0.
They scored a fifth with the final kick of the game. Henderson was quick to react when a shot was parried by the Abbeytown keeper and she fired home her second of the game.
Henderson’s brace of goals and her hard working performance saw her pick up the Player of the Game award from the home team.
The foundation for the winning Reds performance was built on a tight defence that gave the platform for composed midfield play in order to enable some lively attacking. It was a real team performance from front to back from all the players involved.
The Reds Ladies are away this weekend with a tough game at second in the league Blackpool FC Girls first team and will be hosting their final league game on the 13th March against Haslingden Ladies and Girls FC, with the venue to be confirmed.
