WCWFC 2 – 0 Shifnal Town
This Sunday we played fifth in the league, Shifnal Town in the quarter-final of the West Midlands Regional Women’s Football Premier League Cup. After a three-week break, we faced a fierce battle against the Reds with the physicality remaining throughout. The 2-0 victory now means we meet Coventry Sphinx in the semi-final of the League Cup.
In the first half, Leah Ritson looked promising right from the off and it wasn’t long before she turned provider. In the first minute, Ritson raced down the left picking out Jess Fassnidge who managed to tap it home despite a scramble in the area.
Worcester set the pace in the first 10 minutes but after the first goal, Shifnal were keen not to slip up. They did well to maintain possession in individual duels with their efforts paying off when the Town’s number seven ran away to be one-to-one with City’s goalkeeper. Sofia Stolt made a superb save though, stopping Shifnal from levelling up.
Ritson and Fassnidge’s partnership looked dangerous for Shifnal in this half, but the Reds did well to put a stop to any chances from coming to fruition. Shifnal’s physicality made for a tough game across the pitch, but City stayed persistent.
After a few knocks and injuries, the game slowed down but that didn’t stop Jess Fassnidge from ending the half how she started. In the 45th minute, she scored her second. It was Annie Sime who penetrated through Shifnal, surging forward to pick the pass to Fassnidge in the area who slotted it home.
With Shifnal trailing behind they were probing for an early goal in the second half. A close shave came for City as a dangerous cross shot from the left with Shifnal’s striker in the centre awaiting the ball, but Stolt was alert and made the save once again.
From within the midfield, Annie Sime weaved through space trying to pick out a player to score City’s third. In the same area, Annie Highway made her return from injury after remaining on the sidelines over the last few weeks.
The second half also saw two players from the Development Team, Tilly Pearson and Alice Finley, make their debut for the First Team. Pearson replaced Holly Rogers and Finley later replaced Annie Sime. Both players provided the team with fresh legs raring to go and made it a lot easier for City to search for another goal.
Between the 85th and 88th minute, Fassnidge almost got her third. Wanting to end the game with a hattrick, the final ball just couldn’t reach the back of the net this time. After worming her way through defenders and poking it in for goal the ball couldn’t squeeze in from the post.
Another chance for the number seven came from a free kick that was in a prime position, but the shot just fell short, clipping the crossbar after a cracking strike from the captain. City held on and as the game heated up with Shifnal wanting to crawl one back, we remained composed with Stolt making another good save to keep the clean sheet.
Thank you to all the fans for your support today, we loved hearing you cheer us on. We now play Coventry Sphinx away in the semi-final of the League Cup next week. We’d love to see some of you there!