Report by Sarah Lawler

Home to Larkhall Athletic Ladies (To be played at Sherborne Town FC) – (Somerset Women’s Senior Cup) 10 February 2013, 1.45pm kick off.
Next Match:

Stephen Reuter (Enfield)
Referee:

1-0 Pearson (13), 2-0 Pearson (16), 3-0 Pearson (3)
Goals:

Osman, Walker, Grogen
Substitutes Not Used:

Howard, Edwards, Williams, Keehan, Brazell, Radburn, Whitton (Hannam – 75), Pearson, Cook, Bray, Lorton
Yeovil Town Ladies:

Nigel Williams added. “The team played as a unit today. They deserved the win and we look forward to the visit of Portsmouth in the next round of the competition. Our research played a big part in the win today, and it is great when Barnet FC directors talk to you after the game and congratulate you on a great performance well deserved. All credit to Barnet, they came back in the second half, but we showed resilience and controlled the game.”

"Nigel (Fellow manager Nigel Williams) and I have worked really hard to get a growth mind set from all our players to understand that we can learn something every week that helps us become better and progress at this level, as players and management. Credit to all of the girls, they commit a lot of time and effort to train twice a week and also think about their game preparations over the weekend, which often means they have to sacrifice time with their family, friends and partners so games like today are a success. This shows great dedication by them, and it is really paying off.”

"We have so much belief in this squad of players,” she said. “They have all bought into our philosophy of working hard for each other, playing good football and staying positive by believing in their ability.

The final whistle went and the girls were buzzing after a great performance in the cup to progress into the fourth round of the competition, and joint manager Sarah Lawler was delighted with the players.

Yeovil Town had a couple of half chances after Lorton had two free kicks go wide and Bray also shot wide. Wingers Cook and Pearson continued to cause issues and were swapped around to cause further disruption to the back four. With time ticking by Yeovil freshened things up by replacing Whitton with Charlotte Hannam, who slotted into the back four and pushed Rosie Williams to play alongside Radburn in midfield. The final change was to replace Bray with Jodi Cornwall in the 83rd minute.

The second half was extremely disciplined and organised by every Yeovil player on the pitch, showing that they could deal with the pressure of the opposition attacks, but also keep the ball well in possession.

The management were delighted with the first half performance, but knew Barnet would not accept their first half efforts and look to put their mistakes right. The team were asked to secure more possession, move the ball quicker and be confident in themselves in front of goal.

Jade Radburn worked hard along with Rachael Edwards and Rosie Williams to link play from the back, and she put in some assertive tackles to break up the home team’s rhythm.

Centre forward Justine Lorton showed her experience and class when Michelle Keehan played the ball quickly into her where Lorton plucked the ball out of the air to secure possession and rolled it with her second touch into Laura Bray, who then passed to Whitton to coolly deceived the defender with the drop of a shoulder and hit the ball sweetly on towards the target. The GK tipped the ball onto the crossbar, only to have Pearson right on queue to finish Whitton’s business by chesting the ball over the line.

At the other end of the pitch there was excellent combination play triggered by Lorton into Kirsty Whitton and Cook which nearly led to another dangerous attack, but Barnet got numbers behind the ball to deflect Lorton’s shot.

Lawler and Williams demanded the team kept the focus and concentration as Barnet came back into the game. The home side had a spell of high pressure which led to some great defending from the Glovers back four, with the midfield and wingers also doing their jobs well to deny Barnet space or time to shoot. Barnet had two corners in close succession, but neither led to goals as they were unable to get on the end of the delivery.

Yeovil continued to pressurise and grew in confidence, showing they took in exactly what was asked of them by the management to keep attacking the fullbacks and being positive in front of goal. Barnet were trying to play good football by playing out the back, but their progress was disrupted 16 minutes in by the team’s top goal scorer, Laura Bray, who isolated the left back to steal the ball, playing it wide to Katie ‘Cookie’ Cook, who played a great pass into her fullback and club stalwart Emma Brazell, who swung in a great cross to the far post where left winger Pearson was once again on call to hit the ball into the Barnet net.

Yeovil started brightly with plenty of possession and broke up Barnet’s attack so that they could not settle on the ball, and the first goal came in the 13th minute when Justine Lorton was set a ball from Katie Cook for a wonderful pass to the back post where Stacey Pearson placed the ball into an open net.

A strong squad was selected by joint manager Nigel Williams and Sarah Lawler to give them plenty of options to try and progress in the completion. The management team spoke strongly in the match preparation about the need to really attack Barnet and believe in their footballing ability, and the management’s homework paid off by selecting a starting eleven that allowed them to expose Barnet.

The previous round saw the Glovers beat Colne Vally Ladies who were the underdogs of the draw, just as Yeovil were in this game with Barnet being a National League team, and who had previously won the FA Premier League Cup and were a game away from The FA Cup final last season.

YEOVIL Town Ladies arrived to an impressive pitch at Underhill, and continued their recent impressive form with an excellent 3-0 FA Women’s Cup victory over National Premier League side Barnet Ladies, booking their place in the next round thanks to a first half hat-trick from Stacey Pearson.