Guiseley Ladies travelled to Lepton on Sunday to take on newly promoted Lepton Highlanders in the first game of the 2012/2013 season in the Northern East Regional Women’s Football League.
With a vast number of new signings made with some of which are still awaiting clearance, the girls headed with a full squad looking for a good display against a team playing their first game in this league.
With new tactics and management, the girls took some time to settle with the absence of Laura Danskin in central defence new signing Alanna Jones made her first league appearance partnering captain Katie Matthews and the girls soon started to settle and get the ball passed around. With the pitch being dry and overgrown the girls did however struggle to pass the ball around as cleanly as they would have liked to with some early pressure from the home team leading to some early shots and with Lepton very much playing the long ball tactics the Guiseley back four needed to be alert and communicate well. With midfielders Caroline Cropp and Sally Jones filling in at full backs, both girls gave great displays and showed true fighting spirit getting stuck in and filling in where required. Cropp often displaying wonderful tackling and alertness to stop the quick right winger.
After 20 minutes the away team started to use their experienced midfield of Amy Parker & wingers Alarna Fuller & Julie Richardson creating openings and chances for the new strike partnership of last years top score Caroline Hulme & new signing Rachel White, both hitting the back of the net before half time only to be ruled out for offsides and fouls in the area. Katie Jesson playing in her new role of holding midfielder was first to every ball and acting as a solid gatekeeper and helping support both the defence and forwards. This display of fight and enthusiasm took the girls in at half time with the score 0-0 knowing the home side was struggling to keep up with the pace and fitness of the Guiseley girls.
The second half saw Lepton start straight out of the blocks, after some pressure which saw Guiseley keeper Erin Boswell brought into action with some good saves. The early pressure saw Lepton take an early lead after a break down the left wing and a strike across the goal from 5 yards left Boswell with little chance.
After dusting themselves off, Guiseley hit second gear and reacted with vengeance!! with Amy Parker & Alarna Fuller switching from middle to left wing the girls settled and put pressure on the home side with 5 minutes of attacking play. This resulted in a high volume of possession in the Lepton final third which saw Caroline Hulme twist and turn to finally send a clever ball through for Rachel White who slotted into the far left corner leaving the keeper with no chance.
The equalising goal fired the girls and was to be followed by a superb goal by Caroline Hulme, with the girls now timing their passes just right to catch out the napping defence. Hulme showing her fantastic spirit celebrating in style encouraging her team mates to keep going strong. With Lepton now making changes to bring on fresh legs, they put their foot down and turned the game round putting pressure down the flanks and looking to take advantage of playing downhill on the awful slopped pitch. With the hill now their advantage, the Lepton forward made a clean break which saw Boswell having to think and act quickly advancing at the right moment to make a great stop to defeat the Lepton’s fighting spirit. With Lepton having a few more chances that were dealt with the partnership of Jones & Matthews now standing strong. Guiseley now looked to make some substitutions to strengthen their team and add pace and skill. Amy Parker was replaced on the left by Abi Garland and Rachel White was soon replaced by Lindsey ‘Skip’ Hopton who both made an instant impact linking well with Fuller in the middle and speedy winger Richardson showing her class pace which Lepton could clearly not handle. Richardson soon broke on one of her trademark runs, linking well with the two forwards to smash home Guiseleys 3rd goal making the score 3-1. Gusieley looked to make their final change with Fuller being replaced by Chelsey Reynoldson, Garland now moving into a central position with Reynoldson on the left wing.
Guiseley continued to pressure the Lepton defence with Lindsey Hopton coming close to a 4th goal with only the Lepton keeper pulling off a strong near post save. With Guiseley now playing with confidence and the defence limiting Lepton’s forwarding options, great linking play from Garland and Reynoldson putting a great ball through to Hopton who smashed home to make it 4-1 to Guiseley. The girls held on strong for the last ten minutes pulling together with Katie Jesson making some fantastic challenges along with full back Cropp putting a stop the strong right winger’s first half runs.
The final score ended with a 1-4 away win for the ladies in their first game resulting in a well deserved 3 points.
Other results in the league going their way with strong sides Hull FC & Barnsley suffering defeats.
Player of the match went to Guiseley keeper Erin Boswell.
Goals scored by White, Hulme, Richardson & Hopton.
The ladies will be at home next week to Chester Le Street. Kick off 2pm with the bar open for all supported.
No fee to watch the ladies play and all support welcome and appreciated