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For
the first time in a long while,
Lido
went into a match with
11 players and 3 subs, with long-suffering defender Hayley
Williams and sweeper Lianne Beynon making their long-awaited
comeback. The ladies were dreading the potential scoreline of this
match but we proved what we can put together with a full side and
walked away with heads held high.
It
was a high octane first half looking like something out of La Liga
with 4 goals scored but thankfully, only 2 of those belonged to
Swansea
. Aimee Bowditch in a
Beckham-Ronaldinho moment struck a blinder of a free kick over the
heads of the Swans defenders and through the keeper to bring the
score to 1-1. The Swans soon took that to 2-1 with some cleverly
constructed play but were unable to defend their lead as one of
their defenders hand-balled in the area and Lido were awarded the
penalty, carefully converted (alright, slammed) into top left
corner by striker Steph Cook. Central midfielders Stacey Harris
and Kirsty Pratt were unlucky to have two strikes parried away by
the Swans keeper. Pulses also started racing at the sight of
defender Aimee Bowditch going down after being kicked in the knee.
At first it looked like she would have to go off but that fighting
lido spirit kept her on. At half time, the score was 2-2 – and
thoroughly well deserved for our Ladies!
We
were at an immediate disadvantage going into the second half as
the wind was against us and soon picked up, making long balls near
impossible! However the defence still managed to get a lot of
threatening balls by the Swans away to safety and
Lido
kept on the attack.
Sadly, after 70 minutes of hard work,
Swansea
City
managed to score 5 goals
in quick succession in the form of their (at times) devastatingly
fast strikers.
Lido
had a number of free
kicks awarded due to excellent line keeping at the back but the
Swans defence proved to solid in the end and the match finished at
7-2 to the Swans.
Ok,
it may have been a defeat, but the Lido Ladies played extremely
well against excellent, top-of-the-league opposition and are
looking forward to their next match. With a fully fit and
confident squad, us ladies can be a force to be reckoned with!
Fancy
a friendly, lads?
Stacey
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