The Reds faced a narrow 3-2 defeat home to table toppers Chester Le Street Town Ladies
By Josh Allen
Barnsley Women’s Football Club looked to take their form in the cup into the league, as they took on Chester Le Street Town Ladies at home on Sunday 25 October.
Manager Andy Glossop made one change from the trip up to the north-east, with Nat Watson coming in for Louisa Barraclough – an alteration which saw 17-year-old Madison Foye swap the centre of midfield for left back.
Striker Lissa Woodhouse and defender Becky Troake returned to the side, providing much needed depth to the squad.
The sides came into the side with contrasting results from their opening fixtures, and the away side’s undefeated record seemed it may not be changing as they took the lead within two minutes.
The Reds didn’t let that get their heads down as they looked to get hold of the ball and move it quickly, doing so to effect down the left-hand side.
Barnsley had a good chance from range as Betty Cheetham stepped out of defence and hit from around 25 yards out, but the goalkeeper pushed wide.
The recovery speed of full backs Taviah Myles and Foye was crucial, as Chester Le Street got in behind on multiple occasions, using the bounce from kicks down field.
Despite not creating many standout chances, Glossop’s side were still well in the tie. Then, a lack of both focus and communication resulted in them falling behind 0-3 by half time.
Something had to change in the second half and Glossop looked to Woodhouse for aggression in the press.
Foye continues to impress, displaying athleticism and adaptability in multiple roles – and she bagged a goal from a free kick in this game.
It soon became two goals from two full backs as Myles nabbed the second, even if she knew very little about it.
Woodhouse’s energy leading the line clearly started the away side as they began retreating and making errors on the ball.
Midfielder Watson thought she had rescued a point in what would have be a mammoth comeback – rising highest from a corner in the 90th minute – but she could only divert it to the ground and the Chester Le Street ‘keeper took a few seconds to slow the tempo.
The game ended 2-3 but there were many positives for Glossop and his staff to take. He said: “I’m proud of the second half performance, we’ve fought… we were the better team for the majority of the game but just couldn’t find the third goal.”
Upon her return to the squad, Woodhouse said: “It’s good to be back with the team. We played some really good football, but we need to turn those performances into wins.”
Next up for Barnsley Women is a home tie against Leeds Women’s side in the third round of qualifying of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
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