The Ladies played host to the newly-formed Workington Reds team to give Workington their first ever match in a friendly at Rickerby Park.
Workington started strongly and took the game to Newlaithes in the opening minutes. Newlaithes were struggling to retain possession at times but still looked dangerous on the break and they took the lead on 6 minutes when Paige put Emma through with a clinical ball from midfield. Emma raced clear of the defence and calmly lobbed the advancing keeper. After a tactical re-shuffle, Newlaithes began to settle and they squandered numerous chances to extend their lead. Workington battled hard though and stand-in keeper Carly and the Newlaithes defence had to be on their toes to keep them out. On 28 minutes, Newlaithes finally got the breakthrough when Emma, Danni & Paige combined well before Paige once again put Emma clear to rifle the ball home. Newlaithes enjoyed the majority of the chances with Emma, Cathy, Tasha and Paige all coming close but they were unable to add to the score before half-time.
Laura O took over in goals for the start of the 2nd half with Carly moving up front and the extra pace started to cause Workington problems. On 48 minutes, Chelsea put Emma through and she took it round the keeper to slot the ball home. Three minutes later and Workington pulled one back after a corner from their right. The Newlaithes defence was unable to clear the ball and a Workington forward blasted the ball in via the under side of the bar. Within a minute, Newlaithes had restored the margin when Paige squared to Carly on the edge of the Workington area. Carly took the ball to the side and curled a sublime, left-footed effort into the far top corner. Four minutes later and it was Cathy's turn to be provider when she sent Emma clear to again round the keeper to slot in her 4th and Newlaithes' 5th goal. With all the pace at Newlaithes disposal, Workington were playing a dangerous game with their off-side trap. Although they caught out the Newlaithes forwards time and time again, it did leave them exposed and on 60 minutes, Chelsea put Katie O through to finish at the near post. Seven minutes later, and Laura O broke down the right. She cut inside and squared it to Danni who made no mistake from just inside the area. Four minutes later and Danni's close range effort thundered off the bottom of the bar but Laura W was on hand to put the ball into the empty net. Then on 82 minutes, Paige did well to pressure the Workington defence from the front. She intercepted an attempted clearance from the Workington keeper and then took the ball round her before tucking the ball away for number 9. Then on 86 minutes, Workington pulled one back when a mis-kicked clearance from the Newlaithes defence went straight to a Workington player who was just outside the area. She struck a fierce shot that flew into the top corner giving stand-in keeper Cathy no chance. Final score, 9-2.
This was a useful workout against a Workington side that contained some very good players. Workington did enough to cause Newlaithes some problems at times and it is fair to say that they will soon be a team to be reckoned with once they have got a few games under their belts. Not to take anything away from the Newlaithes team though, this was a very good team performance - the defence looked solid and the midfield and forwards caused Workington all kinds of problems once they had settled down.
Back to League action next week as the Ladies are faced with the tough trip to Dalton. Kick-off 2pm at Crooklands Casuals ground.
