Bradwell Belles 3        Willenhall Town Ladies 4                                                                       

 

Team  Toni Parkes, Stacey Parkes, Lindsay Clews,  Lauren Jones, Sherrylee Boon, Tracey Culloty, Tara Martin, Jo Byrne, Rachel Knisis, Abi Riley, Jodie Allen.

Subs Lesley White, Carla Fisher            

 

White replaced Allen & Fisher replaced Martin

 

Willenhall produced a remarkable fight-back in the Potteries to become the only side to inflict defeat on the League leaders.

 

The pitch was in a far worse state than the Noose Lane surface and somehow deemed playable  and the windy conditions made it virtually impossible to get the ball under control.

 

The Belles kicking down the Staffordshire slope in the first half took the lead when a innocuous punt caught the wind and sailed past the very unfortunate Toni Parkes.

 

Willenhall began to get in their stride and produced a sublime equaliser.  Stacey Parkes stroked a sensational through ball around the full-back and Abi Riley latched onto the ball for fire past the home keeper.

 

The Belles quickly regained the lead when they scored a debatable second goal, although the forward was in an offside position when the ball was played, when the ball was received she was on-side and fired home. Toni Parkes then pulled off a tremendous save , which goalkeeping coach Phil Parkes would have been proud of.

 

They then extended their lead even further with another wind assisted effort, but Willenhall did not lie down, they hit back and kept themselves in the game when Abi Riley scored a classic second goal just before half-time.

 

Willenhall played down the slope second half and Jo Byrne tried her luck  with an audacious shot from the half way line straight from the kick-off, but shot wide.

 

Toni Parkes long goal kick almost left the home keeper red-faced and it looked like it was going to hit the back of the net, but the keeper recovered to collect the ball.

 

Willenhall began to dominate and it was no surprise that they equalised. Rachel Knisis beat the offside trap and slotted the ball home.

 

As the Willenhall midfield battled away the Belles were restricted to long range efforts and rarely trouble the Willenhall defensive quartet.

 

Wiillenhall then took the lead when Abi Riley latched onto a pass and fired home round the keeper to complete her hat-trick.

 

Every Willenhall player seemed to be lifted by this and everyone was giving every ounce of energy that had got as they did not want to lose this lead and just before the end this commitment was shown then Lauren Jones produced a tremendous match winning tackle as the Belles looked destined to test Toni Parkes.

 

As the final whistle blew the relief was clearly there to be seen on the Willenhall contingent as they celebrated a truly great win and every single player on that pitch in a Navy shirt played the game of their lives and they were a credit to the club.

 

Well Done Girls!!!

 

Star Player:  aBI riley