Sherborne Town Ladies v Weymouth Women 1st

Recap

Sherborne Town Ladies 4
Paynter P 3′ Snook 16′ 45′ East 34′

Weymouth Women 0

FA Women’s Cup 2nd Qualifying Round (01/10/23)

Step 5 Sherborne Town Ladies proved a bridge too far for Weymouth as they were knocked out in the 2nd qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday at Raleigh Grove.

Hannah Fowler and Sarah Davis-Bates both made their first team debuts having recently joined the club, with Lauren Ellis dropping to the bench, and Bianca Randall missing out, from last week’s starting XI.

New goalkeeper Kate Chard also made her first start for the Terras, and she was immediately into the action as Sherborne looked to stamp their authority on the game from the start. Just 2 minutes in Chard made an excellent save low down to her left to palm the ball away to safety.

Unfortunatly, the reprieve was short lived, as less than a minute later Clark gave away a foul inside the box and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Paynter struck the penalty straight down the middle to give Sherborne the dream start.

Sherborne continued to dominate the early proceedings, with Chard pulling off another exceptional safe from a free kick, before two follow up efforts were blocked on the line, with Sherborne appeals for handball being waived away.

After a frantic opening, Weymouth began to settle into the game. On 12 minutes they won a free kick midway inside the Sherborne half. Lucy Roberts sent a teasing delivery into the box but Ellia Webb couldn’t quite stretch a leg out to make contact at the back post and it went behind for a goal kick.

But just as the Terras were gaining a foothold, the hosts doubled their lead. Narramore found Snook who turned Clark inside out with a terrific piece of skill before rifling the ball across goal into the bottom corner.

Weymouth were then forced into an early change with Clark hobbling off to be replaced by Sophie Bonfield.

On 23 minutes, Weymouth had their first real chance of the game. Sherborne attempted to play out from the back but Zara Hunt forced the defender into a mistake. The ball broke for Webb but her shot was well held by the goalkeeper.

A minute later, Sherborne almost had a third when a free kick was only half cleared and fell to their player on the edge of the D, but the first time shot whistled just wide of the post.

Weymouth’s young and energetic front 3 were continued to harass the Sherborne defence, and just after the half hour mark, the pressure forced another error. This time Thornicroft forced the error and Webb pulled the ball back for Hunt, but she couldn’t connect properly with her first time shot and the ball trickled wide.

Just a couple of minutes later, Sherborne showed their quality as Snook curled a beauty of a strike into the top right corner from range, beyond the dispairing reach of Chard, to make it 3-0.

Weymouth’s heads didn’t drop though. Good inter-play from Hunt and Thornicroft resulted in a chance for Webb but her shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.

The first half would end in somewhat disasterous fashion for Weymouth as Annie Redding got caught in the middle of the pitch and stayed down. Sherborne broke and created an overload on the right hand side which resulted in East firing in from the edge of the box.

Redding was unable to continue and had to be carried off the field to be replaced by Jody Sapsford.

The second half would see a much more solid display from the Terras. Sherborne struck the post on 76 minutes, but apart from that, they struggled to create anything of note. Weymouth’s dogged defensive efforts and persistent harrying ensured the second half became a real scrap in the middle of the park, and although they were unable to create any real chances of their own, the Terras managed to stem the flow, and 4-0 was how it stayed.

A tough afternoon for the Terras against a quality outfit from a higher division, but the young Terras will take heart from the seond half, and wull look to get back among the goals, and get some points on the board next Sunday when they face Shaftesbury at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Terras Starting XI: Chard, Potter (C), Standen, Hunt, Redding, Thornicroft, Roberts, Webb, Fowler, Davis-Bates, Clark.

Subs used: Bonfield, Sapsford, Harding. Subs unused: Wilson, Ellis, Billing