Another win on the road in pre-season for Ben Thomas’ side, this time against fellow tier 6 team Handsworth Ladies, sees the Women’s team chalk up 5 wins from 5 games ahead of the new season.

A couple of changes from the last game against Stamford saw Tilly Burnett and Parris Welsh come into the starting line up with Liv Kershaw and Kloe Green taking their place on the bench, alongside the returning Leah Wray.

FIRST HALF

The opening 25 minutes of the game saw little in the way of clear opportunities for either team, with the only change of note falling to Abbie Emslie who chose to try and find a team mate rather than shoot, which saw the chance lost.

The first real shot for Town came in the 30th minute with Both Emslie and Beth Wharton linking up, before the ball found itself at the feet of Milly North but her thunderous shot was well parried by the Handsworth keeper.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 42nd minute as Wharton’s shot took a nick off a Handsworth defender and looped over the head of the opposition keeper.

Town created another chance before half time – Eden Pedersen whipped in a free kick, it was met by the head of Emslie but the keeper managed to tip the header onto the bar and over.

SECOND HALF

Half time saw all five named substitutions take to the field and that seemed to have broken up the play for both sides.

Jas Lacey was called into action in the 50th minute, doing superbly to get down to a Handsworth shot and deny the equaliser.

A free header for Handsworth from a corner in the 58th minute was glanced narrowly wide.

The feeling of an inevitable equaliser came from Handsworth in the 62nd minute, with a great finish.

Despite the wake-up call, Town struggled to really have any further clear cut chances until the 78th minute when Mia Westerman intercepted a loose pass from the Handsworth back like. As she drove towards goal, the goalkeeper made herself big and made the save.

A goal wasn’t far behind as we retook the lead in the 81st minute as Wharton grabbed her second from a long ball down field by Lacey that was flicked on beautifully by Demi Barai – the lethal number 9 making no mistake with her finish.

After waiting most of the second half for any sort of chance, the third goal game came only three minutes later. Liv Kershaw drove down the right-hand side and whipped a cross into the box. The ball found its way to Emslie who smashed it into the back of the net.

There was still time for a fourth as Pedersen looped a free kick into the box, with the ball flashing in front of the goalmouth and Laura Flecknor made no mistake, firing home from close range.

Town: Jasmine Lacey, Tilly Burnett, Sophie Gray ©, Chloe Thorpe, Eden Pedersen, Pariss Welsh, Demi Barai, Abbie Emslie, Milly North, Alicia Davis, Beth Wharton

Subs: Leah Wray, Liv Kershaw, Kloe Green, Laura Flecknor, Mia Westerman

UTM