Town Women beat Derby County to set up Brighton tie in Women’s FA Cup Fifth Round
- Town Women beat Derby County 3-2 in the Fourth Round of the competition
- Laura Elford bagged her third hat-trick of the season
- The Terriers face WSL side Brighton & Hove Albion in the Fifth Round
Huddersfield Town Women emerged victorious from a five-goal thriller with Derby County to book their place in the Fifth Round of the Women’s FA Cup!
The Terriers held on for a dramatic 3-2 win at the Stafflex Arena, coming out the other side after positively weathering the storm in the first half against Derby County at the Stafflex Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts started brightly with Lucy Sowerby linking up well with Laura Elford on the right hand side, whilst Derby created chances of their own in the early stages as the contest turned into a midfield battle with both teams searching for the opener.
Laura Elford gave Town the lead in the 15th minute as she was played in down the near side, took the ball down, and finished at the second time of asking. Although the hosts went in front, Derby equalised just one minute later and the Rams continued to threaten, smashing the right hand post eight minutes later.
With the two teams level at the break, it all came down to the second 45 minutes and, just like in the previous round, Town’s substitutions worked a treat as Kate Mallin emerged from the substitutes’ bench to claim two assists.
In the 72nd minute, the winger whipped in a corner which was bundled over the line by Elford before the same combination saw the prolific striker completed her hat-trick just four minutes later - rising high to once again head the ball in.
The two goals in quick succession secured victory and, even though there was a late scare as Derby pulled a goal back seven minutes before full-time. Town now have Brighton away in the Fifth Round of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday 16 May 2021.
It means that, for the second season out of the last three, Town are the last remaining ‘amateur’ side in the famous competition – having also made the Fifth Round back in 2018/19.
Manager Jordan Wimpenny admitted it was a nice feeling to win the contest in the way the team did.
“It’s always a nice feeling to win a game and to progress to the next round is great. I feel the team deserve that after this performance.”
Debutant Paige Crossman was also very satisfied with her afternoon’s work.
“We had to be quite tight in areas. I had to stay back and sit a lot more than I normally would. You’ve got to do what is right for the team. I think in my legs I knew I had it in my head that I will be fine physically. Just getting 90 minutes out the way, psychologically it’s a big thing. I feel we had quite a lot of space outside wide.”
Photo by Jess Hornby.
