City Ladies out of Devon County Cup

THE HOLDERS of the Devon County Cup are out of this year’s competition after a 3-2 away loss to higher league rivals Plymouth Argyle LFC.

It quite literally was a game of two halves, with Argyle scoring three goals in the first half and City clawing two back in the second.  The first chance of the game fell City’s way after five minutes. Catherine Wright clipped a lovely free-kick into the box, and it was flicked on by Vic Barter before falling to Helen Kukor, whose first-time shot hit the post and rolled across the front of the goal.

It was only three minutes later that Argyle took the lead. Plymouth winger Ezme Wells outpaced the City defence and fired into the back of the net. The home side doubled their lead on twenty-five minutes when Argyle captain Katie Middleton scored a penalty after a trip in the box. City had their last chance of the half on when Wright headed the ball just wide after a in-swinging corner by Kirsty Caunter.

Argyle still had time to score one more though, with Wells notching her second of the game two minutes before half-time. Her shot from wide on the right slipped through the hands of City keeper Abbi Bond. 3-0 half-time.

It didn’t take long for City to get back in the game after the restart, with Barter heading the ball past the Argyle keeper on forty-eight mins following a Caunter corner. This gave City a bit of hope, and Dani Barr went close a few minutes later after another great corner by Caunter.

Hard-working midfielder Soph Currie was replaced by Carla Staddon on fifty-eight minutes, and it didn’t take long for Staddon to make an impact. After good play in midfield, her shot-come-cross hit the Argyle woodwork and bounced clear. It wasn’t until the seventy-fifth minute that City got their second goal, with Kirsty Caunter scoring straight from a corner.  City pressed hard in the final ten minutes and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty with three minutes to go, after an Argyle defender slid into the back of Barr’s legs in the box, taking her out and getting none of the ball. Ultimately, it would be the Argyle ladies that saw the game out, and City’s cup run comes to an end.