After an impressive pre-season that raised expectations, it was a crash back to earth when they found themselves 3-0 down at half time thanks to a brace from Princess Mgbemere and Jasmin Cemal.
Any notion of a comeback was gone only minutes into the second period when Carla Todd added a fourth and then Georgia Wood a fifth within the first 15 mins of the resumption.
The only saving grace came from debutant Lily-Jo Hilton as she took aim from distance to add what was a consolation from the opening day humbling.
It was a cagy start to the game with both teams trying to figure each other out but the opening chance fell to Mgbemere for the visitors, she was denied by Danni Clarke’s feet in goal.
But she was not to be denied 5 minutes later as she rushed through onto a long ball, and this time made no mistake.
The old trait of conceding a second quickly from last season returned as this time Cemal pounced on a defensive mistake and fired into the gap between Clarke’s outstretched glove and the bar.
Another defensive mix up led to Mgbemere scoring her second and making it three with only half an hour gone, which Needham did manage to hold to the break but with plenty damage done.
The second period was a chance to reset and see if they could salvage anything but sadly that notion was gone within 5 minutes as Todd smashed one into the top corner.
It was game over as a contest and the visitors continued to pile on the misery as Wood this time added a fifth just as the game moved towards the hour mark.
But the home side showed some fight and got one back thanks a brilliant effort from Hilton after good work from captain Mia Etheridge-Golding to set her into space.
And Needham finished the better with plenty of half chances created and one top save to deny Jae Lewis-Samual late on.
Aside from the result there were some positives as debutants flourished with Hilton scoring and Ella Edwards also impressing, while Izzy Haste made a first team debut off the bench off the back of an impressive season for the development team last season.
The league campaign is long and will see many ups and downs, but this was a particularly disappointing start to a season that expectations hope will yield success.
No comments:
Post a Comment