Town Women beaten on the road
- Derby County 3-0 Huddersfield Town Women
- Terriers remain in fifth place
- Comments from First Team Coach Kamran Hussain
Huddersfield Town Women lost their first league game since mid-January on Sunday 13 March 2022, with Derby County controlling the majority of the game to keep all three points.
Going into the game following a four-game winning streak, HTAFC Women found themselves on the backfoot throughout the game as the home side continued their pressure on the top spot in the league. A first half strike by Sophie Domingo was followed by an Ellie Gilliatt brace during the second half as Town Women failed to mount any challenge on the Derby goal.
The game opened to both sides trying to get a feel for the game. Derby looked to be more organised and started to create chances through long balls over the Town Women back line, however no clear-cut chances were created during this period.
As the game entered the half hour mark, the 'Ewe-Rams' came close to opening the scoring as they managed to hit the ball past Bethan Davies in goal, but the ball trickled just wide of the right post.
Huddersfield Women would also try their chances on goal, however, the closest of these shots, by Britt Sanderson, flew over the bar.
Derby did manage to find the back of the net just before half time with Domingo taking advantage of a low driven pass just outside the box. The forward hit the ball past Davies' right into the goal, where their previous chance had just missed. This was the last major event in the half as the Terriers looked to improve in the second half.
The first ten minutes of the second half were HTAFC Women's brightest moments of the game with Development Team regular Macy Ellis enjoying several crosses into the box and creating multiple chances. However, the Derby keeper maintained control, and her clean sheet.
On the hour mark the Ewe-Rams doubled their lead courtesy of substitute Gilliatt striking from 25 yards into the back of the net. Town Women failed to deal with the high-ball leading to the chance from outside the box.
Any hopes of staging a comeback were dashed when Gilliatt scored her second, Derby's third, just ten minutes before the end of the game. Another long-range strike from 25-yards beating Davies in goal.
Moments later, Gilliatt could've secured her hat-trick, but was denied by the crossbar.
Town failed to create any more chances in the final moments of the game, with the full-time whistle ending a miserable afternoon for Town Women.
Following the match, First Team Coach Kamran Hussain focused on the positives.
“We come away from the game 3-0, but felt like it was a game of big moments.
“Overall, the difference in the two teams wasn’t that far apart.
“The first goal coming just before half time changed the outlook going into the changing rooms at half time for sure.
“The start of the second half we thought we dominated and came out with a real fight about us.
“Then one moment from one player and they score their second goal, which takes the life out of us.
“We come away knowing we need to be better, but also can’t be too harsh on ourselves.
“As a collective we all demand a very high standard of each other.
“We know we can do better so it’s back to training and preparing for our county cup fixture.
“We all spoke after the game and are eager for next Sunday fighting for some silverware.”
HTAFC Women’s Line-Up
Bethan Davies; Paige Crossman, Beth Ibbotson, Serena Fletcher, Autumn Housley (Vicky Abbott, 85’), Lauren Griffiths, Katie Stanley, Brittany Sanderson, Ria Montgomery, Mia Parry, Macy Ellis (Zoe Laughton, 85’)
