Haslingden Vs Accrington Community

The quarter final of the league cup saw Haslingden host Accrington Community on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
4 hard away wins for Haslingden had seen them rewarded with a home game at last.

The Haslingden squad was slightly depleted with them only having 1 substitute, not ideal when your playing a team from the division above, but they looked determined to give it a go and not make the previous wins be in vain.

The game started at a fast pace with both teams passing the ball well, tackles were flying in and no team wanted to give an inch. It was obvious in the first 10 minutes that goals would be very hard to obtain as both teams had filled midfield with girls willing to contest every ball, and stop any attempt on goal.
It was Haslingden that drew first blood when a sublime pass from Atkinson split the defence and played Chadwick through on goal, she made no mistake with the finish and rifled the ball passed the Accrington keeper. 1-0
the game was all about the midfield battle as Haslingden looked to stop any balls being played to the Accrington strikers. Ashworth, Webbe and Evans throwing themselves at everything and contesting every ball. Accrington played some fantastic football to create an overload on the right, and as the girls got pulled out of position to cover this, a clever through ball was played to Sabatino in the centre, who unleashed a thunderous shot that caught the keeper out, and made the score line 1-1 on the stroke of half time.
The second half started with both teams believing they could go on and win the game. But it was Haslingden that had a series of corners that were contested by every player. Haslingden trying to get the ball over the line and Accrington trying to clear it. As the keeper pulled of another save from a corner the ball bobbled inside the 6 yard box and Webbe was the quickest to react to fire the ball home to make it 2-1 to Haslingden.
With 23 minutes still to play Haslingden knew it would a tough end to the game, but trying to see out the win was the priority now. Injuries were all over the pitch, but with only 1 substitute for Haslingden, the ladies had to dig deep to keep going. Accrington put all the pressure on the Haslingden midfield and back line, but still they stood firm. Murphy and Prestage handled everything that came there way and cleared up behind midfield. But it was Lomax in goal whose steady handling and composure was testament to the Haslingden goal keeping coach. She was always in the right positions and didn’t back out of anything which helped calm the defence.
With the crowd getting louder and trying to encourage both teams, it was Accrington that got another corner in the last minute of the game. Even the Accrington goalkeeper came up for this one. The ball was yet again won by Atkinson in defence and put out of play, then followed the final whistle which was greeted with cheers and applause for the efforts from both teams.

A fantastic advertisement for the ladies game and all played in the right spirit, with handshakes and hugs all around.

Final score was 2-1 to Haslingden who now progress to the semi finals next week.