Town Women played Southampton in the FAWNL League Cup Final
- Town Women’s first ever FAWNL League Cup final
- Town dominant but just fall short against Southern Premier Division Champions
- Manager Glen Preston shared his thoughts
Huddersfield Town Women made history on Sunday 24 April 2022, as they played in their first ever FAWNL League Cup Final.
In a game where anything could happen, Southern Premier Division champions Southampton were favourites. However, Town Women gave as good as they could get and held the Saints off for the majority of the first half.
During the opening stages of the game, both teams saw plenty of the ball, but every time the final pass was just short. It was the Saints who had the best chance of the first period, with Ella Pusey’s attempt just wide.
As the half continued, Brittany Sanderson had a huge chance to give Town Women the lead. She beat Kayla Rendell in goal, before Rosie Parnell clears it off the line. It looked to have hit her hand, but the referee awarded a corner.
At the break, Southampton had the lead however following a tap-in at the back post. A dangerous cross flew into the box and Alisha Ware was on hand at the back post to give her time the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Into the second half and it was still all to play. The biggest chance of the early stages fell to Lucia Kendall when she hit the crossbar.
The Terriers chances came from Kate Mallin as the half played out, and each time Molly Mott was on hand for the Saints to keep her out. Elford had a chance with 25 minutes left on the clock, but a miss-hit kick went into the ‘keeper.
Town were pushing for that equaliser and were holding onto possession, with Saints’ attempts coming on the counter. Elford had a great chance to equalise for the Terriers, then on the counter, Lucia Kendall doubled the lead for the hosts.
Then, with less than six minutes left, it felt like game over when Saints had their third. Kendall scored her second of the afternoon with a firecracker of an attempt from outside the box.
At full-time, a disappointed but proud Glen Preston said:
“We gave it absolutely everything. We lost to a better team, but for 60 minutes we went toe to toe with them.
“The players should be absolutely proud of themselves. They put in a monumental effort today, representing the Club with everything you would expect, dignity, pride, class - they have been superb.”
Town Women are back in action on Saturday 30 April 2022 when we travel to the home of Doncaster Rovers, the Eco-Power Stadium (formerly Keepmoat Stadium), in the final of the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Cup.
Fans are welcome to come along to South Yorkshire to support Town against Barnsley, with the game kicking off at 10.30am on Saturday morning.
Picture by Jess Hornby
