After last weekend’s disappointing 2 – 1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest, it was a Super Sunday for Wor Lasses with results most definitely going in their favour as they bounced back in style.
Since beating Burnley and Nottingham Forest in the FA Women’s National League Cup in earlier rounds, they travelled to AFC Fylde on Sunday for a quarter-final tie. This is the highest level of National cup competition for teams outside of the Women’s Championship and Super League.
United are possibly the favourites for the competition and travelling to play a side they’d already beaten home and away in the league gave them a great chance to progress to the semi-final stage. A chance they took with great aplomb after an initial shock.
Becky Langley made three changes from the side that had lost to Forest. In came Hannah Reid for Grace Donnelly whilst skipper Amber-Keegan Dodds and Emma Kelly were rested in preference to Jas McQuade and Cara Milne-Redhead. Charlotte Potts took the Captain’s armband for the day.
Despite Fylde being bottom of the Northern Premier Division without a league win all season they had actually scored in both the league games against Wor Lasses this season and took a shock lead on 22 minutes.
Sasha Rowe the scorer with a fine driven effort from the edge of the box that gave Reid no chance in the Newcastle goal. However, United who had been on top in the early stages didn’t wobble and were level within two minutes.
Georgia Gibson on hand to stab the ball home from close range after Fylde failed to clear Tyler Dodds’ corner. It was Gibson’s eighth goal of the season in all competitions and her second in the League Cup.
The Lady Mags having gotten back in the game so quickly dominated the second period of the first half but were unable to break Fylde down and the side’s went into the changing rooms level at half-time.
The second half was barely five minutes old when United di go in front. Dodds picking a ball up just inside the right hand side of the 18-yard box and curling a beautiful effort past the helpless Megan Hunter in the Fylde goal.
Hunter was then called upon on a couple of occasions to make smart saves from McQuade and Katie Barker to keep her side in the game as United began to really turn the screw.
Fylde held out until the 63rd minute when Dodds’ second goal of the game gave United a two-goal cushion. This time it was good work in midfield by McQuade who rode a challenge superbly before slipping a great through ball for Dodds to run onto inside the box and finish cooly.
If the game wasn’t over at that point it certainly was with twenty minutes to go when Gibson also netted her second goal of the game to put Newcastle 4 – 1 in front. The goal came from the penalty spot with Gibson herself being the player fouled.
Barker had shown great skill and awareness on the left to find Gibson in the box and as the creative attacker tried to make space for a shot she was fouled. She got up, dusted herself down and slotted the penalty home with confidence.
Newcastle even had the luxury of being able to swap their goalkeeper enabling recent acquisition Lilie Woods a Northern Ireland international to come on in place of Reid for her United debut.
There were no further goals as Wor Lasses cruised through the closing stages to take their place in the last four of The League Cup competition and get back to winning ways after tasting two defeats in their last two outings.
The draw for the semi-final stage will see them face one of Halifax Town, currently tenth (third bottom) of the same Division or Portsmouth, South Premier Division Leaders who have only lost once all season or Hashtag United currently second in the same division as Pompey who have only lost three teams this season.
Whoever United face they will be confident that they can progress to The Final. After the game there was more good news for Newcastle’s Lasses. News came through from Grange Park, Nottingham that Forest had beaten the previously unbeaten Burnley 2 – 1 in the league.
A result that lifted Forest to second in the North Premier Division four points behind United on the same number of games. Burnley’s first league defeat of the season means they’re still five points behind United but they now only have one game in hand.
So, a great day for Wor Lasses. A chance to progress to a National Cup Final and the destiny of the North Premier Division Championship firmly back in their own hands albeit there is still 10 games for Newcastle left to play.
The first of those see’s Wolverhampton Wanderers Women who currently sit fifth in the table come to Kingston Park next Sunday 4th February. Wolves have won 5 drawn 2 and lost 3 this season and are a very solid outfit that The Lady Mags haven’t played so far.
It promises to be a really exciting and intriguing encounter with kick-off at the usual time of 2:00pm and another bumper two to three thousand crowd expected.
