Women’s Football walk away with a draw

Goals from Aoife Hurley and Teighlor Pengelley were not enough for the Women’s Football first team as they battled to a 2-2 draw in a fiery game against Birmingham on the Brockington pitch.

A draw was a fair result as the home side never really did enough to merit winning the game with Birmingham probably having the better opportunities of the two teams.

Player Ratings

GK- Lily Tyrimos 6/10

Made some good diving saves but will be disappointed to have conceded twice.

RB- Naomi Cooper 6/10

Got forward on occasion but had a limited influence on the game.

CB- Annabel Johnson 8/10

Looked impressive at the back, controlling the ball well and began attacks with some good passes

CB- Becky Langley 7/10

An imposing physical presence at the back, commanding in the air.

LB- Lucy Harris 6/10

Same as Cooper on the opposite flank, lacked final ball when forward.

RM- Amelia Cruwys 6/10

Made inroads on both flanks and put several good balls into the box.

CM- Aoife Hurley 7/10

Took her goal well when the ball fell to her in the box following a corner.

CM- Nikki Payne 6/10

Controlled the ball well in the middle of the park.

LM- Teighlor Pengelley 8/10

Loughborough’s best attacking threat. Great left footed strike in the second half, low to the bottom corner. Player of the Match.

ST- Nicki Russel 6/10

Never really had a clear cut chance to score.

ST- Sophie Rock 6/10

Similar to her strike partner, lack of service.

The Purple Army began positively with a lot of the ball, with the two centre backs in particular dictating the pace of play with some long balls towards the home side’s forwards.

Nicki Russel had a shot cleared off the line before Birmingham went close at the other end with Tyrimos turning a stinging Birmingham shot over the bar to keep the scores level.

Eventually, after both sides had further chances, Loughborough opened the scoring in the 40^th minute. The ball fell to Hurley at the corner and she volleyed home from close range to put the home side in front.

After half-time Birmingham improved their all-round game with their right-back making several inviting runs forward and they equalised with 55 minutes gone to level the scores.

A dynamic counter attack from the hosts saw them regain their advantage with just over an hour gone. Pengelley picked up the ball in the Birmingham half and drove forward, rifling a left footed shot across the keeper into the bottom right corner.

However, Loughborough’s lead was not to last as Birmingham deservedly levelled. The visitors lobbed a hopeful free kick into the home side’s box, which at first looked to have been dealt with.  However, the ball found its way back into the area and into the back of the net off a number of different legs.

Loughborough had one more real chance to score as Cruwys cut in on her left foot just inside the box, but her shot was not accurate enough and Birmingham escaped.