SWFA 1^st Division – 2008/2009

Falkirk Ladies V Glasgow Ladies

Sunday 15^th March @ Tulligarth Sports Centre.

After a lay-off last week due to the adverse weather conditions, the glorious Falkirk Ladies looked to keep the pressure on 2^nd placed Inverness with a win over Glasgow Ladies at Tulligarth.

The coaching team kept faith with the majority of the squad who had performed so well against Celtic 2 weeks ago with the only change being in defence with Becky Robertson replacing Maxine Thornton.

The early stages saw Glasgow Ladies force a number of free-kicks in and around the Falkirk penalty area however the home side managed to cope with these comfortably.  Despite some words of encouragement before hand about challenges in the final third of the pitch the defenders seemed hell-bent on providing the opposition with some scoring opportunities.

The first real chance of note for the Falkirk Ladies came on 9mins when a surging run from Ashley McDonald down the left opened up the Glasgow defence and her cross was met by the head of Kerry Graham however the ball sailed over the bar.

Falkirk forced a corner on the right after 13mins where Nicky Docherty played a long hopeful cross into the penalty area however there were no takers in a Falkirk shirt.  Falkirk were enjoying the bulk of the play in the first half and it was really on a matter of time before this pressure turned to goals.

On 30mins the home side broke the deadlock with a fantastic strike.  A corner on the right was played into the penalty area and subsequently cleared by the Glasgow defence.  Waiting on the edge of the penalty area was Lisa Sutherland and her sweetly driven right foot shot whizzed by the keeper and into the back of the net (1-0).

This seemed to settle the side and their dominance continued during the first 45 minutes of play.  In fact the score line was doubled on 42mins when Lisa played a lovely ball through for Ashley McDonald to run through and round the keeper before dispatching the ball to the back of the net (2-0).

Half Time – Falkirk Ladies (2) V (0) Glasgow Ladies.

One change at half-time saw Shirley Martin replace Nicole Letford.

Normal business was resumed after the break with Falkirk going on the attack from the restart.  Shirley Martin picked out Kerry Graham in the penalty area and her neat shot was saved well by the impressive Smith in the Glasgow goal.

Despite have the bulk of the play it was some sloppy defending from Falkirk that allowed their visitors back into the game.  After winning a rare corner, 60mins,on the left the Falkirk defence went to sleep at the resulting cross and allowed Susie Lawer to sneak in at the back post and head an uncontested ball into the net past Nat Williamson (2-1).

The match was effectively finished as a contest on 75mins after Jenny Godfrey raced clear down the right and her cross to the back post was finished off by Ashley McDonald who fired a shot in off the post for her 2^nd and Falkirk’s 3^rd of the afternoon (3-1).

Shirley Martin was next to try her luck from the edge of the penalty box on 83mins but she fired high and wide of the goal.

Full Time – Falkirk Ladies (3) V (1) Glasgow Ladies.

Coach Comments……………….We are more happy with the 3 points although the overall performance of the team could have been better.  We did struggle at times to make good use of the possession that we had but all 3 goals were expertly put away by Lisa and Ash.

That’s the first of a run of 3 games where we must pick up maximum points to keep the pressure on the teams above us.  The next 2 weeks sees us away to Bo’ ness and then at home to Cowdenbeath.

Davy.