Halifax FC Women shows resilience at the City Ground on Sunday

Halifax FC Women faced a challenging task as they took on the experienced Nottingham Forest Women at the City Ground yesterday. Despite the 0-8 loss , the women in blue showed immense resilience and showcased great defensive effort, especially from goalkeeper Bamford.

Nottingham Forest Women took the game in their hands right from the opening whistle , pressing Halifax and creating early goal attempts and winning corners. A great effort was seen in the 9th minute by Jamie – Lee Bamford, Halifax goal keeper , stopping a near-certain goal.

It was Forest’s Hollie Olding, who opened their account in the 14th minute. Though Halifax’s defence tightened after the goal, Forest continued to attack, creating chances. Their effort showed result in the 19th minute when Casey Howe smashed the ball into the back of the net extending their lead.

Despite under constant pressure, the defenders made several crucial stops including a brilliant save from Bamford in the 37th minute. Just before halftime, Halifax defence received an unfortunate blow in the 40th minute as Nottingham Forest went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

In the second half, Halifax defenders started strong clearing a series of freekicks and corners from Forest. The Red’s two consecutive attempts to score was blocked by Bamford. However, on her second block the ball slipped from her hand which was taken advantage by Forest’s Charlie Wellings who marked their fourth goal of the day.

The next two goals came in successive minutes by Forest’s Sophie Domingo and Millie Chandarana. In the 74th minute Bamford ran forward, away from the box to block a run which gave a chance to Domingo to score her second goal to the left side of the post.

In the 87th minute, Forest sealed the victory with an eighth goal as Halifax’s defence could not intercept a well placed shot.

While the score line may not reflect it, Halifax FC Women showcased tremendous effort against one of the strongest teams in the league. Facing an experienced and dominant side is always a challenge. The team takes plenty of positives from this experience to their next match where they take on Burnley Women next Sunday at home.

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

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