Coventry City supporting Marc Evans was out taking pictures of Coventry City Ladies 3-0 home win over Leicester City Women yesterday.
To see the pictures from a great Sky Blue win, please click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/wren-media/sets/72157631606219292/
Coventry City Ladies vs. Leicester City Ladies.
FA Women’s Premier League Cup.
23rd September 2012.
Match Sponsor: Pure Properties.
Club Associates: Bit 10, Coachleasing, Covsupport News Service.
Cheryl Edwards netted a stunning solo effort as Coventry City Ladies eased towards another victory in the FA Women’s Premier League Cup this weekend.
After defeating Sporting Club Albion by a single goal in the first group fixture of the cup earlier this month, the Sky Blues rekindled their old local rivalry with the Foxes, knowing that victory over the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division team would go a long way to securing progression to the next round.
Following a slow start in difficult conditions, Helen Dermody slid in just before half-time to give the Sky Blues a lead, before the visitors rallied in the second period. Dermody then turned provider for Callan Barber to score, before Edwards came off the bench to seal the victory with an outrageous lob from 20 yards.
Manager Paul Cudby used the game as an opportunity to experiment with his starting line-up, and those changes nearly reaped reward within the opening two minutes, as Nicole Dale’s strike was pushed away, before Courtney Sweetman-Kirk volleyed wide from Dermody’s right-wing cross.
The enthralling start continued at the other end, as ex-Coventry City midfielder Kim Farrow headed over and Issy Hayes lashed a low effort just beyond the post, following a slip by makeshift defender Destiney Toussant.
Attacking clearly continued to take priority over defending in the opening half an hour, as Farrow and Natalie Reay both forced Sky Blues ‘keeper Susan Wood into saves, whilst Abbie Hinton sliced horribly wide from distance for the visitors.
Despite this decent period for the Foxes, Nikki Miles and Dermody were becoming increasingly effective in the middle of the park, and it was the latter that put the Sky Blues ahead in the 37th minute. A long ball sent Dale clear on the right-wing, and she unselfishly slid the ball across for Dermody to tap into an empty net, for her third goal of the campaign.
Coventry City looked much more stable defensively after the break and threatened in the early stages through Bianca Bragg, but her strike on the turn was comfortably held by Nicola Van Der Weerdhof.
The second-half was certainly a lot tighter than the first, but the game suddenly burst into life on the 54thminute. Barber danced through a couple of challenges on the edge of the box, before hammering a shot that struck the crossbar and rebounded out to Bragg, who lashed a half-volley just past the right post.
Leicester City responded positively, but just lacked a cutting edge in front of goal, as firstly Hayes dragged an effort just beyond the far post from the right, and then Reay’s low drive was well held by Wood.
Instead it was the Sky Blues who took the initiative, and subsequently put the game to bed with two strikes within three minutes. Dermody’s short free-kick from the left found Barber, and her enticing cross bypassed everyone, en route to the bottom right-hand corner.
Cudby brought on Edwards at the restart, and it took just three minutes for her to add to the scoreline, with a spectacular individual effort. Dermody was at the heart of the move again, releasing the winger on the left flank, before she raced clear and lofted an inch-perfect lob over Van Der Weerdhof from an acute angle, to wrap up the scoring in style.
Coventry City Ladies 3-0 Leicester City Ladies (Dermody 37’, Barber 69’, Edwards 72’).
With special thanks to the following player sponsors: Goalkeeper Coaching (Joe Murphy), UT I Creative, Auto UK, AMH Air Conditioning, CM Products, Pure Properties, Penguin Recruitment, Birmingham County Football Development Scheme, Hollybrook Contracts, National Grid, Inge Kettner and Mrs Mobley.
Jonathan Hooke.