It was a rough week for United women who were beaten 5-0 by a strong Aston Villa side in the Conti Cup on Wednesday, and then fell to a frustrating 1-0 home defeat to Durham on Sunday. While the cup defeat wasn’t a shock given United’s rotation and the presence of a host of internationals in the Villa lineup, the loss to Durham will have stung a side that are still much closer to the bottom of the Women’s Championship than the top.
I’ll come back to the cup game towards the end – it’s hard to draw too many conclusions out of that other than “the WSL is much stronger than the Championship”, which won’t be news to anyone who’s paying any attention at all to the women’s game.
At the Lane on Sunday, though, United fell behind in the 12th minute and then endured a bad-tempered afternoon in which the referee handed out no fewer than 11 yellow cards. The Blades had some excellent chances to equalise but for the second week running were thwarted by some outstanding goalkeeping, with Tatiana Saunders pulling off one particularly impressive stop from a Jess Sigsworth strike.
United picked the same XI for the third league game running, although chose to start with the 3-4-1-2 that had finished so strongly at Southampton last week. The Blades started on the front foot, with Bex Rayner having a shot blocked out for a corner inside the first minute, but Durham created the first proper chance and finished it expertly.
Dee Bradley’s pass was dummied by Saoirse Noonan, allowing Eleanor Ryan-Doyle to get the run on Blades centre-back Tara Bourne. Ryan-Doyle’s finish was high-class, slipping the ball past the advancing Fran Stenson and just inside the far post.
United responded well and had several chances to equalise. Jodie Hutton, who had another strong game going forward, set Isobel Goodwin scampering into the box – the striker took it round Saunders but the angle was against her, and the cross evaded Sigsworth.
Goodwin then outmuscled a Durham midfielder and drove into the area with the ball before finding Sigsworth. The Blades number 7 took a touch and fired in a low shot bound for the far corner but Saunders made a stunning one-handed save to prevent what looked like a certain equaliser.
The half ended with chances for both sides as Rayner volleyed over, Hutton smashed into the side-netting from a tight angle and Goodwin had a header held by Saunders. Stenson had to be alert to stop a Durham second and the visitors also put a good headed chance wide from a freekick.
United – and the crowd, which contained a pocket of fairly-boisterous Durham fans – were already growing frustrated at the referee and some perceived playacting from the visitors, who certainly weren’t averse to spending time on the deck. The yellows started to come thick and fast, with Goodwin receiving a particularly baffling one for what looked like very minimal contact while chasing back – although Sigsworth might well have seen red on another day for one annoyed-looking lunge.
Hutton set up Sigsworth for another well-struck shot in the second half, but again Saunders saved. Sophie Barker and Ash Hodson both had shots blocked, but United began to lose their grip on the game – and their composure. Barker was furious at another stoppage of play with yet another Durham player on the floor and went in the book.
The chances dried up as a result, with United turning to striker Tamara Wilcock in place of Hodson – the youngster had a couple of good runs, but the Blades struggled to create more than low-percentage shots the rest of the way.
Eight minutes of time were added on as Durham made a sub and it was symptomatic of the flow of the game that play didn’t restart until almost two of those eight had been played (the game ended up running to 100 minutes).
Stenson made an unbelievable point-blank save from Mollie Lambert moments later: substitute Amy Andrews burst forward on the counter and squared it across the six yard box where Lambert appeared to have a tap-in but Stenson blocked it out. Andrews herself then sliced a similarly-good chance wide, but United couldn’t make their profligacy pay.
I feel like I’ve written it repeatedly but “frustrating” is the word I keep coming back to. United looked like the better team in this one but Durham played the situation well having conjured up an early lead.
The loss leaves United in 9th place as we approach the halfway point of the 22-game season (United still have a game in hand on all but one team in the league), and are now 11 points behind Charlton who have won four in a row to hit the summit of the Championship.
Sheffield United 0-5 Aston Villa, Conti Cup
A good crowd of over 500 were at Alfreton midweek – the majority of which were Villa fans, I’d estimate – and saw the visitors win comfortably after racing into a 4-0 lead early on.
There was no real shame in this defeat for the Blades, who actually did well to hold Villa to just one more goal and have a couple of moments themselves in the second half. United gave rare starts to Charlie Docherty, Tamara Wilcock and Fallon Connolly-Jackson (the 17-year-old’s first start), with on-loan keeper Eleanor Heeps making her first appearance. Molly Graham and Ella Kinzett also came into the team.
The visitors, who have had a wretched start to the season (they picked up their first WSL points on Sunday, winning 2-0 to leapfrog Bristol City) had a relatively star-studded lineup. England striker (slash wingback) Rachel Daly bagged a hat-trick inside half an hour, kickstarted by Connolly-Jackson conceding an early penalty.
Another England international (and one-time Blade) Ebony Salmon was electric and made it 4-0 on 31, with fellow Lioness Jordan Nobbs pulling the strings in midfield. The Blades breathed a sigh of relief when Daly was subbed at half-time although Villa also gave minutes to internationals Lucy Staniforth, Adriana Leon, Alisha Lehmann and Kenza Dali.
United gave run-outs to Olivia Page, Ellie May, Juliet Adebowale-Arimoro and Sophie Haywood off the bench, with Jodie Hutton also coming on and having the chance to bag a consolation. Molly Graham headed in a corner but the referee had – annoyingly – already blown his whistle for a penalty. Hutton’s effort was well struck but saved by the Villa keeper.
Graham had an excellent second half with some superb last-ditch defending, and Heeps – who looked shaky early on – made some outstanding saves to keep the score down. Overall though 5-0 didn’t flatter Villa, with this game underlining the physical and technical gap between the elite of the English women’s game and much of the second tier.
And while I’m officially supporting Sheffield United, and travelled to Alfreton in the hope of seeing an upset, it was pretty cool to get the chance to be a fanboy and see Rachel Daly score a hat-trick in person.
Watford (A), Sunday 19th November, 14:00 kick-off
I won’t say this game is a “must-win” for United but for probably the first time this season, I’ll be disappointed if they don’t. Watford are newly-promoted to the Championship and have found it difficult to adapt, sitting just one point above bottom place with one win from their 10 games.
They’re also winless in their last seven, halting a six-game losing streak with a 0-0 draw at Reading last time out – although curiously, their last win came over the current Championship leaders, Charlton.
Underlying numbers don’t paint a prettier picture, either. Watford’s attack has been weak (1.33 expected goals per 90 minutes according to footystats, 8th-best in the league) while their defence has been wretched with a league-worst 1.7 xG Against per 90. They’ve conceded 21 goals so far, with no other team shipping more than 17.
I’d like to see United persist with 3-4-1-2 in this one, as overall I think it was effective again against Durham with plenty of chances created and Rayner and Hutton in particular finding a lot of space.
I wouldn’t hate to see slightly more proactivity with changes though – only one sub was made by the Blades last weekend – with someone like Kinzett being used in midfield for Barker or Alanta Brown. And hopefully Goodwin can get on the end of a few more chances – United’s top-scorer has been more of a provider than a finisher in the last few games.