Hull City Ladies 2 – 0 Durham Cestria – Match Report
Game Sponsored By Mezz UK
A very quick start with only two minutes gone, Durham’s number 14 Faye Dale managing to break the deadlock early. Teammate Poppy Pritchard picked up the ball on the edge of the box, a well placed low ball traveling through the broken Tigresses defence giving Dale the opportunity to slot the ball past Wallace and giving Durham the lead.
Hull City Ladies chance to equalize, a misplaced pass from Rachel Ackroyd not dealt with by Durham’s defence. Ball drops to Hope Knight’s feet on the edge of the box for an open shot, straight into the keeper’s grasp.
Another chance for Durham, a controversial foul right hand side of the halfway line giving Durham a long free kick. Ball is hit high and far into the Tigresses box, good defensive duty from Hull City Ladies sees the ball cleared.
Durham Cestria manage to double their lead with a miss hit from previous goal scorer Faye Dale sends the ball over the city defence giving previous assister Poppy Pritchard an easy finish to double Durham’s lead and separating the gap by two goals.
Half time at the Easy Buy Stadium saw Durham Cestria ahead 2-0, a big second half from the Tigresses required to take anything from this game.
Good pressure early on from Durham on their left hand side, number 14 Grace Mackie makes a great interception on the left hand side. Ellen Turnbull on the overlap giving Mackie a good option to lift the ball over the defence to allow a shot for Turnbull forcing a good save from the reliable Abi Wallace to give Durham Cestria a corner kick. Corner is taken low to the front post, a good header breaks down that chance.
Captain Ellie Tanser gathered the ball in the middle of the park, sending the ball high to Hope Knight. Quick skill gives Hope the opportunity to shoot, the ball is blasted to the near post and out.
Another chance for the Tigresses with Laura Bartup picking up the ball right hand side of the Durham box, a quick turn followed by a shot low forces the goalkeeper to parry the ball straight into top scorer Hope Knight to knock the ball into an open net. During celebrations, a controversial decision sees the linesman’s flag up for a very marginal offside to rule that goal out and keep the gap 2 goals in Durham’s favour
Hull City Ladies’ chances were not stopping in the second half, a chance breaking left hand side passed into the middle of the park into the feet of Bartup.
A good touch from the number 16 gives her the opportunity for a volley into the far right corner forcing a great save from Durham’s goalkeeper.
Desperate for a goal in the later stages, a good run down the left hand side for captain Ellie Tanser followed by a low cross front post for the run of Helen Lynskey to knock the ball just over the front post.
A frustrating afternoon for Hull City Ladies not taking any of the many chances created mainly in the second half. An unfortunate start to the game setting the tempo for the entirety, an even end to the first half followed by a dominant display over the second half. Tigresses’ didn’t have the score line to support the performance with a few unfortunate decisions from the match officials and a disallowed goal, sees the tigresses taking home no points and moving on to next Sunday to face Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.
Amy pollock receiving Player of the Match for the Tigresses
A great performance from defensive midfielder Amy Pollock, controlling the game with partner Ellie Tanser. Dominating the pitch on both sides creating many chances for the Tigresses and keeping a compact defence, Amy’s multiple perfectly timed challenges breaking down many Durham attacks saw her deservingly taking home the player of the match trophy.
Chris Hames thoughts post match
A disappointing result playing against current league leaders Durham Cestria, Chris stated ‘In the moments Durham were the better team they took the chances, we struggled to do that’. He further said ‘looking at chances created, we were the better team, we just struggled to finish the chances off’. The second half performance from the Tigresses was completely dominant with a goal looking a certainty and a big chance would come, when it eventually did and Hope Knight knocked the ball into an empty net. Goal was disallowed for a very narrow offside to the frustration of the Tigresses to not narrow the gap to only 1 goal. Clear improvements from Hull City Ladies in such a narrow amount of time as the performance on the 18th December in the same fixture was described as ‘chalk and cheese’ from the Tigress manager. To end the interview Chris displayed his disappointment in the match officials’ unprofessionalism throughout the game stating ‘ the referee’s arrogance and attitude to think it is acceptable to speak to the players in the manner he did, the girls deserve better’.