Match 03
30th August 2015
Cup
Larkhall LFC (away)
Larkhall LFC 6-1 Exeter City Ladies
City Ladies suffer heavy defeat in FA Women's Premier League Cup
Report by Helen Kukor
A depleted Exeter City squad travelled to Larkhall Athletic LFC, buoyant after last week’s win at Shanklin LFC but missing several key players including captain Catherine Wright.
City started slowly and found themselves two behind after ten minutes following several defensive errors. The players battled hard to get back into the game and created several goal-scoring opportunities, but failed to convert.
Following another defensive error, Larkhall notched another goal, taking the score to 3-0. At this stage, Leah Brooks was forced to go off due to a recurring knee injury.
Having travelled with eleven players and no subs, City played the following seventy-five minutes with just ten players. Despite this, they battled gamely to get back into the match and were able to restrict Larkhall to just one further goal, taking the score to 4-0.
Several positional changes were made at the interval and the team came out determined to get back into the match. However, another defensive error meant that Larkhall were able to score their fifth goal just a couple of minutes into the period. Despite being five behind, the team showed great fighting spirit and created a few chances.
One chance was converted by Helen Kukor after sixty-five minutes. Following a strong run through the Larkhall defence, she slotted the ball underneath the oncoming keeper. This gave the team an injection of energy, and several further goal-scoring opportunities were created but not taken.
Larkhall were restricted to sporadic breakaways from there, and the Grecians can take great heart from a solid second half performance highlighted by exemplary performances from Dani Barr, Paige Longworth-Wakeham and Helen Kukor. Eventually, Exeter tired after playing the best part of the match with just ten players, but they can take some positive things into the home League game on Tuesday, again against Larkhall.
Manager Clem Bennellick said: “We can take some positives from today's game. Certain performances stood out within the team and I can't fault the teams spirit and belief in the second half."
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