The Tigresses made the most of a dreary day at the Bet 365 Stadium, to walk away with a point and remain unbeaten
Yeah, but can you do it on a windy, rainy and sort of mild afternoon in Stoke? Sort of. The Tigresses came away with a valuable point in their first away trip of the season, against one of the divisions strongest sides – in a game that could easily have got away from the visitors
Sore from a defeat the week before Stoke City very much had a point to prove at their main stadium at, what very much felt, like the last day of Summer
The hosts dominated the ball throughout the early stages, with City applying some pressure and trying to get a foothold in the game, but with neither side really creating much in the way of chances on goal
And then the Tigresses took the lead. Erin Nicholson, with a wicked delivery from a corner, which was deflected in off the Stoke City defender
Stoke chances came from range, dotted throughout the half, but without ever really testing Abi in the City goal
A contentious moment then on 30 minutes, as a dangerous lunge from the Stoke City captain on Hope Knight should have seen a red, but somehow the referee, despite seeing the challenge, gave just a yellow
HT 0-1
The second half very much swung from Stoke City control, to complete dominance, as the Tigresses struggled to get any form of control on the ball
When Stoke City scored their equaliser, on 55 minutes, with Evie Priestley making contact to an excellent cross at the front post, it was well earned
For the next 15 minutes Stoke kept on coming, hitting the bar from inside the area and forcing a couple of smart saves from Wallace
The Tigresses did grow back in to it. Foyer and Akrill added energy in to the forward line and opened up a couple of half chances for the points to truly be stolen
FT 1-1
Manager Chris Hames, after the game
“It is a good point, from a very tough opponent in a game where we didn’t play well – so we will take it. I would like to see us attempt to keep the ball and control the game more, but we allowed ourselves to be dragged in to the energy they tried to exert in chasing an equaliser, when it wasn’t needed
But, again, on a day that we weren’t at our best, we can take that and move on to get better”