Halifax FC Women faced Stoke City FC Women on Sunday, 10th November, at the Horsfall Stadium, falling to 0-4 loss despite a better performance in the second half.

City took an early lead in the 5th minute, placing a shot beyond goalkeeper Jamie-Lee Bamford’s reach, and quickly extended their lead just two minutes later. Halifax struggled to break through the opposition’s defence but continued to press forward.

Chole Fisher’s freekick in the 13th minute went over the crossbar, followed by an attacking shot from Meg Cardenas which again missed the target. Fisher continued to try with a promising run but was tackled, resulting in another freekick for Halifax, which unfortunately did not yield any positive result.

In the 20th minute, Stoke City scored their third goal when Halifax failed to clear the ball. This allowed Ravening to slide it in after a well coordinated team effort, adding another goal to their tally.

The women in blue attempts to respond included a freekick after 5 minutes by Lucy Walsh, which went directly in the hands of City goalkeeper. An open shot from Charlotte Salisbury Williams, was missed in the 26th minute followed by a yellow card incident for players from both teams (City’s Stumps and Halifax’s Harrison) in an off the ball incident.

As the home team was trailing 0-3, they returned in the second half with determination to regain possession and create chances. Fisher’s shot in the 51st minute went high, while the long corner taken by Cardenas was cleared by Stoke defenders after 2 minutes.

Priestley scored her second goal of the match in the 57th minute from Stumps assist, as she skilfully slid the ball under Bamford to bring the score to 0-4.

Despite constant efforts to fight back, including multiple freekicks, the Eagles were unable to penetrate Stoke defence. Bamford made a great save in the 71st minute to prevent more goals, showcasing defensive resilience as they continued to clear Stoke’s chances.

The unexpected incident occurred in the 85th minute as Halifax’s Chole Fisher received a red card after two yellows. Despite being reduced to just 10 players for the final 5 minutes, Halifax held strong to finish the match to 0-4.

Match report written by Malavika Manoj A – https://malavikama.wordpress.com/ 

Match photos by Nicola Williams – https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBLJcq