ALBION ********1
Whitcombe 89WEST HAM ** 0
Kim Whitcombe’s 89th minute strike gave Albion Women a late win over West Ham United.
The Seagulls started the game well as Kim Stenning raced one-on-one with keeper Toni-Anne Wayne, but the Hammers shot-stopper made herself big to deny last season’s top scorer.
Wayne was then called into action minutes later to deny Lily Agg, when her angled drive was tipped away.
But the east Londoners did pose a threat on the counter-attack, as Kelley Blanchflower’s cross narrowly missed three Hammers forwards inside the box.
Albion then created further opportunities through Agg’s header that went straight into the hands of Wayne, and Kate Natkiel’s long-range strike sailed just wide of the target.
The Seagulls started the second-half in the same vain, when Yasmin Poole’s whipped cross was spilled by Wayne and Stenning almost profited to give Albion the lead.
Stenning was causing the Hammers defence plenty of problems and just moments later the forward narrowly failed to make a decent connection with Natkiel’s ball into the area.
Albion keeper Lucy Mangan was then called into action; superbly tipping away a header from a West Ham set-piece.
But the home side surged forward once again, when another Stenning effort was saved by Wayne, before she fired another shot just off target after Cally Beaumont’s pass.
The Hammers nearly stole the points themselves, when Rebecca Merritt’s speculative effort from distance narrowly rose over the bar with just three minutes left.
It looked like being a frustrating day for the Seagulls, but the deadlock was finally broken with a minute of normal time remaining.
Two late substitutes, Charlotte Owen and Whitcombe, combined perfectly to score the decisive goal. The young midfielder threaded in a superb ball into the path of Whitcombe, who clinically fired home to claim the points.
Albion: Mangan (GK); Poole, Carter, Beaumont, Perry; Natkiel, Barton, Young, Agg (Owen 74); Waine (Whitcombe 82), Stenning (Thompson 89).
Subs not used: Sole (GK), Rowe.
Original article
Whitcombe 89WEST HAM ** 0
Kim Whitcombe’s 89th minute strike gave Albion Women a late win over West Ham United.
The Seagulls started the game well as Kim Stenning raced one-on-one with keeper Toni-Anne Wayne, but the Hammers shot-stopper made herself big to deny last season’s top scorer.
Wayne was then called into action minutes later to deny Lily Agg, when her angled drive was tipped away.
But the east Londoners did pose a threat on the counter-attack, as Kelley Blanchflower’s cross narrowly missed three Hammers forwards inside the box.
Albion then created further opportunities through Agg’s header that went straight into the hands of Wayne, and Kate Natkiel’s long-range strike sailed just wide of the target.
The Seagulls started the second-half in the same vain, when Yasmin Poole’s whipped cross was spilled by Wayne and Stenning almost profited to give Albion the lead.
Stenning was causing the Hammers defence plenty of problems and just moments later the forward narrowly failed to make a decent connection with Natkiel’s ball into the area.
Albion keeper Lucy Mangan was then called into action; superbly tipping away a header from a West Ham set-piece.
But the home side surged forward once again, when another Stenning effort was saved by Wayne, before she fired another shot just off target after Cally Beaumont’s pass.
The Hammers nearly stole the points themselves, when Rebecca Merritt’s speculative effort from distance narrowly rose over the bar with just three minutes left.
It looked like being a frustrating day for the Seagulls, but the deadlock was finally broken with a minute of normal time remaining.
Two late substitutes, Charlotte Owen and Whitcombe, combined perfectly to score the decisive goal. The young midfielder threaded in a superb ball into the path of Whitcombe, who clinically fired home to claim the points.
Albion: Mangan (GK); Poole, Carter, Beaumont, Perry; Natkiel, Barton, Young, Agg (Owen 74); Waine (Whitcombe 82), Stenning (Thompson 89).
Subs not used: Sole (GK), Rowe.
Original article