By Myles Hocknell, photo by Josh Tyler-Williams
Nantwich Town Women were narrowly beaten 2-1 by West Didsbury & Chorlton on Wednesday evening, with the Dabbers putting in a much-improved performance after Sunday’s defeat to Tranmere Rovers.
Nantwich started brightly, registering the first shot on target after just two minutes as Amanda Fallon tested the West Didsbury goalkeeper. Sasha Johnson was next to try her luck, letting fly from the edge of the box after a clearance fell to her, although her effort went wide. At the other end, Connie Watts produced an excellent save to deny a powerful effort from inside the box, keeping the score level.
Katie Greenwood then delivered a dangerous free-kick into the box, with Sam Cawley and Fallon both unable to get the ball out from under their feet to get a clean shot away.
The Dabbers continued to look much more settled than in their previous outing. On the half-hour mark, Meg Andrews embarked on an excellent run, taking on multiple defenders until the ball was eventually taken away before she could get a cross into the box.
Watts was called upon again shortly afterwards, making another excellent save after a threatening ball found its way through to the West striker.
Nantwich also defended well when West Didsbury won their first corner of the game on 27 minutes. The Dabbers dealt with the set-piece and immediately looked to counter, although the attack was slowed down by the opposition.
Despite chances at both ends, neither side could find a breakthrough before the interval, with the scores level at 0-0 at half-time.
The second half began slowly for the Dabbers, and West Didsbury took advantage. A ball over the top allowed the home attacker to run through and fire past Watts to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Nantwich responded with a promising move seven minutes later. A superb through ball from Greenwood found Andrews, who drove forward before cutting the ball across the box for Fallon. She then set Charlotte Crees up for a shot, but the forward was closed down by a defender before she could get the effort away.
Greenwood continued to threaten from set-pieces, delivering another dangerous corner which was met by Abi Poulton, although her effort went over the bar.
Crees was now causing problems down the left-hand side, while Crees came close to an equaliser with a superb long-range effort that forced the West Didsbury goalkeeper to dive to her left to keep the ball out.
West Didsbury & Chorlton then doubled their advantage when a ball was put into the box and a collision caused confusion, with the ball eventually finding its way into the Nantwich net to make it 2-0.
The Dabbers refused to give up and pulled a goal back midway through the half. A free-kick from the right-hand side presented Poulton with the opportunity, and she produced a superb left-footed delivery that curled into the left side of the goal to make it 2-1.
Nantwich pushed for an equaliser late on and were awarded a final free-kick in the last minute. The resulting delivery was headed towards goal, but the West goalkeeper was there to collect it and preserve the home side’s lead.
The Dabbers were unable to find the equaliser, with West Didsbury & Chorlton taking all three points despite a spirited performance from Nantwich.
Manager Dan Mellor said:
“Obviously we’re disappointed to come away with nothing, but the performance was a big step in the right direction after Sunday. We reacted well to the Tranmere defeat, competed for everything and showed much more of the character and intensity that I expect from us.
We were just missing that bit of quality in the final third to create more clear cut opportunities and at the other end we were a little naive for both of their goals, which ultimately cost us.
There are plenty of positives to take from the performance, but we know at this level you get punished for those small moments. We’ll learn from it, keep working and make sure we turn performances like this into points.”
Starting 11: Connie Watts, Meg Andrews, Sasha Johnson, Sam Cawley, Tabby Rushton, Katie Greenwood (C), Layla Woollam, Josie Alderman, Amanda Fallon, Anna Shimizu, Charlotte Crees.
Substitutes: Bobbi Lumbert, Alicia Hatton, Poppy Emery, Abi Poulton, Milly Lewis.
Nantwich Town FC Women return to the Swansway Stadium this Sunday with a match against Bury FC.