Harrogate Railway Ladies travelled to Doncaster to play Doncaster Belles. Having played them in the cup a few weeks ago the girls were feeling confident. With the wind blowing against Railway in the first half the girls struggled to get out of their half although everyone continued to battle hard and get behind the ball to help out knowing that the second half would bring the advantage of the wind. Charlotte Donnelly made some long range saves but easy chances for the opposition didn’t come as Leanne Court, Kat Purvis, Erika Birnie and Sandra Clarke stood firm in defence. Despite the disadvantage Railway still created chances with Lou Donnelly going close as the ball just crept the wrong side of the post. Railway tried their best to keep the ball on the floor and play their way out of trouble however Doncaster fought hard to win it back and break down play. Half Time 0-0.
Railway started strongly in the second half as link up play improved and the advantage of the wind enabled goal kicks to travel with Railway picking up first and second balls all over the pitch. Man of the match Jodi Hodgson worked tirelessly in midfield picking up balls all over the pitch and distributing accurately to cause lots of problems for Doncaster. The first goal came when Lorna Cooper played a lovely ball out to Nicola Hadley down the right. As the keeper came out Nic took her chance a dinked a beautiful shot over the keeper 1-0 Railway. This spurred Railway on and Doncaster where creating very few chances, any hint of an attack was thwarted with Leanne making tackle after tackle outside the box and clearing well to send Railway on break after break. The second goal was very similar to the first, this time Kat Edmond threading the killer ball through to Nic which invited the keeper out again Nic stayed composed and lobbed the keeper again 2-0 Railway.
Unfortunately the game ended in controversy with Doncaster going on a break and Railway playing the offside trap perfectly. The linesman flag went up the girls all had their hand up for offside but the man in charge disagreed with everyone 2-1 Railway. The final whistle went 2 minutes later leaving Railway with a bitter taste in their mouth as the score didn’t reflect the dominant win.
