The Ladies came out on top in today's local derby against Carlisle City at the Sheepount. The pitch was very heavy which made quality play difficult.
City were fired up from the start and won a lot of the early midfield possession with some feisty tackling and quick interceptions and they took the lead after 5 minutes when Nicola Smith left the Newlaithes defence flat-footed to blast the ball home. Newlaithes picked themselves up and started to battle back with several efforts either off-target or straight at the keeper, however on 23 minutes they grabbed the equaliser when Carly Stevenson took a quick throw on the left to Chelsea Norris, she sprinted to the bye-line before pulling the ball back across the area for Claire Blackburn to run on to with a 1st time finish into the bottom corner. A minute later and Faye Comber was unlucky not to score when she fired in a rasping volley from the edge of the area but the City keeper dived brilliantly to her left to save. However two minutes later Faye made the breakthough when Chelsea Lightfoot played up to her on the left of midfield. She took one touch before firing in an outrageous lob from all of 35 yards to give Newlaithes the lead. A minute later and Newlaithes increased their lead when Emma Sisson played through for Carly Stevenson to tuck the ball away from just inside the area. Although City were stunned by the rapid fire three goals, they kept playing with determination and Newlaithes keeper Lauren Crofts was forced to dive to her left to save from a City shot. At the other end the City keeper was on top form as she made a string of reflex saves. Faye Comber almost grabbed another when her curling shot from the edge of the area clipped the outside of the post with the keeper beaten. For all City's determination, they weren't creating too many chances, however they pulled one back on 40 minutes when the Newlaithes defence didn't deal with a quality through ball and they could only stand and watch, helpless as the ball bobbled agonisingly inside the post from a stabbed shot from just inside the area.
The Newlaithes players were unhappy with themselves at half time and they came out in determined mood for the 2nd half. On 50 minutes they increased their lead when Emma Sissson set up Alison McCorry. Unable to get her shot in, she laid the ball back for Carly Stevenson to strike an amazing high, looping shot with the outside of her boot which curled magnificently into the top corner. Despite the setback, City kept battling with one effort that flew across the goalmouth following a corner from the right. At the other end Emma Sisson was unlucky when she blasted a shot against the crossbar from just outside the area. However on 77 minutes she finally got her goal when Chelsea Norris raced onto a through ball from Paige Williams to get there just ahead of two City defenders and toe poke the ball for Emma to race clear and slot the ball past the City keeper. Still City kept battling but the energy sapping, heavy pitch was taking it's toll with Newlaithes looking the more comfortable of the two teams. On 82 minutes, Carly Stevenson completed her hat-trick when she picked up the ball just outside the City area to fire an unstoppable shot into the far corner to round off the scoring. Final score 6-2 to Newlaithes.
This wasn't the prettiest of games on a difficult pitch but both teams slugged it out with some determined tackling. City looked sharpest in the first half without creating too many chances and Newlaithes were made to battle all the way. To Newlaithes credit, they forced their way back into the game after a sluggish start, creating the lion's share of the chances overall and scoring some stunning goals and it's fair to say that City's keeper made three or four excellent saves to keep the Newlaithes score down. Joint players of the match were Claire Blackburn for her monumental workrate and Chelsea Lightfoot for mopping up at the back.
Next scheduled league fixture is on 2nd December v top of the league Crookland Casuals. However next week the Ladies will be playing a friendly versus the newly formed University of Cumbria side at Rickerby Park, 1pm kick-off.
