By Myles Hocknell, photos by Peter Robinson
Nantwich Town FC Women began their new campaign with an emphatic 6–2 victory over fellow newly promoted side FC St Helens in an action-packed encounter.
Both teams, fresh from winning their respective Division One leagues last season, made a very quick start, with the game played at a high tempo from the opening whistle.
The Dabbers looked the more threatening in the early stages, with Katie Greenwood delivering two dangerous corners inside the opening 15 minutes. Amanda Fallon then found herself one-on-one with the FC St Helens goalkeeper, but the keeper did well to smother the ball. Nantwich continued to create opportunities, with the first shot on target coming in the 20th minute, as Corie Mather tried her luck from around 20 yards, although her effort was comfortably dealt with.
Four minutes later, Anna Shimizu produced an excellent solo run from halfway, driving towards goal before her effort was blocked by FC St Helens and turned behind for a corner. The resulting corner caused further problems, with the ball remaining in the box before eventually coming out to Josie Alderman. She picked out Greenwood, who fired a shot towards goal from just inside the box to give Nantwich the lead.
By the 30-minute mark, the Dabbers had been firmly in control of the game and continued to dominate possession and territory. However, FC St Helens found a way back into the contest against the run of play, with a looping ball over the Nantwich defence, finding its way into the net to make it 1-1. The half-time whistle blew, with the teams being level at the break.
Nantwich started the second half strongly and it wasn’t long until they regained the lead again in the 48th minute, with a corner that was crossed back into the box before Charlotte Crees found the net. Two minutes later, FC St Helens then won their first corner of the game, and they made it count, scoring from the resulting set piece to equalise again.
The Dabbers responded impressively. Latest signing Tegan Ansell ran the ball forward before finding Fallon, who pulled the ball back for Layla Woollam to smash home and restore Nantwich’s advantage. Greenwood got her second goal of the game from a free-kick around 20 yards out, nestling towards the bottom-left corner. Katie Naylor also came close with a free kick from just inside the St Helens half, her effort clearing the crossbar.
Nantwich continued to enjoy plenty of possession and create chances. A Greenwood free kick from around 30 yards on the right side of the box was comfortably collected by the goalkeeper, while Fallon was denied after another excellent passage of teamwork ended with her effort going straight at the keeper.
The Dabbers continued to push forward as Greenwood won the ball in midfield before playing it through to Shimizu, whose cross into the box caused problems and was ultimately turned into the net by an FC St Helens player. Crees also came close when she teased a ball across the face of goal, with Ansell just unable to reach it. The game remained action-packed, with the Dabbers continuing to control proceedings during another dominant half.
There was also a special moment for sisters Milly and Evie Lewis, substituted on in the 68th and 75th minutes respectively. The pair who play for the Women’s Development Team, and both made their first-team debuts as Nantwich continued to press for more goals.
With the game approaching its conclusion, there was still time for another goal. In the 90th minute, Shimizu produced a powerful strike from inside the box to score her first goal for the Dabbers and complete the scoring.
The final whistle confirmed a 6-2 victory for Nantwich Town FC Women.
Shimizu was named GOAT Player of the Match after her tireless performance.
Starting 11: Connie Watts, Meg Andrews, Corie Mather, Sam Cawley, Katie Naylor, Katie Greenwood (C), Josie Alderman, Layla Woollam, Amanda Fallon, Anna Shimizu, Charlotte Crees.
Substitutes: Tegan Ansell, Milly Lewis, Evie Lewis, Jo Case.
Nantwich Town FC Women’s next game is on Wednesday 19th August against Crewe Alexandra. Kick off is 7:30pm at the Swansway Stadium. It is set to be an exciting derby match with the local teams meeting for the first time in a competitive match.
Manager Dan Mellor said:
“It’s a fantastic way to start life in Tier 5 and I’m incredibly proud of the players. I thought we were okay in the first half without really playing to our full potential, but once we started to play our football in the second half, we showed the quality we’ve got and ultimately had too much for them.
To score six goals in our first game at this level is a great statement, but I’m equally pleased with the overall performance. The whole squad contributed and everyone played their part.
A special mention has to go to our two pathway players who were on the bench today. They came on and contributed greatly when called upon and that’s exactly what we want to see from our pathway, young players stepping up, taking their opportunity and showing they belong around the first team.
We knew this would be a difficult game against a side who had exactly the same record as us last season, so to come away with three points is hugely satisfying. We’ve worked incredibly hard to get to this level and today we’ve shown that we’re more than capable of competing here.
It’s only one game, but it’s a brilliant start. Now we have to build on it against Crewe on Wednesday evening.”