Workington Town Women were forced to stage a second half comeback after two first half goals from Morecambe had seen them with a healthy first half advantage.
The visitors had secured an unanswered nine goal victory in their previous outing against Hindley Juniors a week earlier and this had given them confidence as they got off to a flying start.
Hannah Paling had fired the visitors ahead on five minutes after a ball pumped forward from the Shrimps midfield had caught the back line cold. Paling’s assertive read gave her the advantage as she tracked in on goal before firing over keeper Laura Millers head to find the top right corner.
The home side rallied and arguably had built the better of the first half chances. Great vision in the middle of the park by Kirsten Donald, had seen her link with Hayley Bracken with the pass splitting the defence and putting the striker in on goal. The visitors keeper pulled off a save low to her left to maintain their advantage.
Good link-up play soon after between Nat Broad and Bea Barber, resulted in the latter’s shot lifting slightly over the bar to the visitors’ relief.
This was followed by a free-kick from Keeley Chatters, falling to the feet of Barber only for the strikers effort to narrowly miss the outside of the far post.
Helen Wagstaff split the defence with a ball from the left, 15 yards inside the home half which found Brackens well timed run. Good recovering pressure from the visitors forced Bracken to fire quickly with the resulting strike going behind.
Having soaked up the pressure for the majority of the half, it came as a surprise to most when Morecambe doubled their lead with half time looming. A corner from their left was delivered in and a goal mouth scramble ensued with the ball eventually being turned over the line from close range by Anya Stannard.
Half time substitutions saw the home side reshuffle as they looked to build on the first half’s quality and inject some energy in the middle of the park. Cassie Donald and Rowan Williams replaced Linzi Donaldson and Wagstaff, with Williams joining the attack and Barber dropping to the middle.
Morecambe got the first look at goal in the second half, when a free kick from the right was firstly pushed to safety by Miller before she collected the ensuing cross. The home side responded when Cassie Donald linked with the overlapping Tiegan Hargrave on the right with the full back’s strike narrowly lifted over the bar.
The home side’s pressure eventually paid off with the game entering the final 25 minutes.
An unopposed corner from the left off Broad was unlucky not to have gone straight in and instead found the far post before ricocheting in to the feet of Hargrave.
The youngster was taken out with a heavy challenge as she pulled the trigger leaving the referee no doubt but to award the spot kick.
Bracken duly stepped up and converted well to find the back of the net and leave the Shrimp’s keeper stranded.
The game was levelled four minutes later when Chatters made a well-timed run in to a great position to find Broad’s corner from the right with the resulting header finding the back of the net.
This was nearly recreated from the left soon after, only this time a header from Cassie Donald rose over the bar to the visitors relief.
Arguably, the best goal of the game came in the 83rd minute and this proved to be decisive in the outcome of the game.
The move started on the halfway line as Naomi Foster found the feet of Cassie Donald centrally. Donald spun to face the home defenders before splitting the line to find sister Kirsten in behind and bearing in on goal.
The midfielder’s goal-bound strike was partially defended from a glancing foot, only to find Broad backing up on the left. Broad sensing the angle was too tight, opted instead to find Williams centrally who reacted well to beat the keeper to the ball and turn it home to secure the lead.
The visitors would consider themselves unlucky not to have restored parity when a strike from their right beat Miller only to find the far post and eventual safety.
This was followed with a goal line headed clearance from Cassie Donald which fortunately for the home side was the final notable act of the game.
Rowan Williams was awarded the Player of the Game accolade by Morecambe after coming on to show great control up front and intelligent links with the midfield which opened up good attacking play.
Match day sponsors Westlakes Demolition opted to give Keeley Chatters the Sponsors’ Player of the Game award for her polished performance in the back line and her goal which levelled the game.
After the game, manger Paul Mackenzie said: “On the balance of play over the 90 minutes, I think we done enough to deserve the win. Being able to bring new energy in the second half proved to be a timely boost as we were able to keep pushing when Morecambe started to fade.
“I knew this was going to be a tough game. Morecambe are a decent team and certainly a lot better than their league position suggests. They are very good at playing to their strengths which was evident in the way they took the lead.”
The Town Women are at home again on Sunday to Hindley Juniors.
- Last Sunday’s football had kicked off with a West Cumbrian Youth League fixture between Workington Town Girls Under-14s Lions and Moor Row Under-13s Girls with the home side ending up winning what was an entertaining game. A single goal had separated the sides for the majority of the game before the Lions pulled clear in the final stages to secure the victory.
