First Team Beaten At Chorley Despite Spirited Second Half Performance

Three first half goals saw CALFC fall to a 4-1 defeat at high flying Chorley Ladies on Sunday afternoon. Following two positive results at home before the Christmas break, the Alex Ladies were caught cold against a strong Chorley outfit, conceding three times in the opening half hour, two of which came from rebounds. Emma Lambourne had two decent chances but we went into the half-time break with a mountain to climb. Despite an early sucker punch at the start of the second half, some great character and desire was shown by the CALFC players to fight back and look the much better side, creating a number of opportunities from the likes of Megan Booth. The winger scored a well deserved goal after a superb ball from Beth Grice to help us end the game positively. Next up is a big game at the Cumberland Arena as Brighouse Town Ladies visit next weekend.

Head coach Nick Pearce made two changes from the side which drew 1-1 against Mossley Hill Ladies before Christmas, with Tori Howard starting at right back as captain Katie Nuttall moved into centre half to replace the ill Ellie Bohannan while Emma Lambourne started up front in place of Amanda Fallon. On what was a difficult pitch, Chorley began brightly with an early corner being dealt with well by defenders Kerry Green and Leanne Derry. The early pressure from the home side lead to a couple of chances, one of which saw a shot come back off the post.

The first CALFC attack came ten minutes in when Lambourne beat the offside trap before holding the ball up well and crossing towards the far post finding Beth Grice, but unfortunately the winger was in an offside position. Two minutes later Chorley took the lead after goalkeeper Kara Townsend made a terrific save however the rebound fell kindly for the striker to finish.

Megan Booth began the game playing as she has been all season, full of determination to win every ball and the Chorley back four was put under a lot of pressure throughout by the pacy winger. Lambourne was putting herself in good attacking positions, with Grice playing a nice through ball into the striker before the shot from outside the area was saved by the keeper.

As the game reached the 20 minute mark the Alex Ladies were absorbing some Chorley pressure but were more than in the game, creating some chances. Less than five minutes later the home side doubled their advantage after a ball over the top found the winger who drove a cross into the box from the right hand side which was fired against the post before another rebound fell kindly and was turned in past Townsend.

CALFC skipper Nuttall was putting her expert tackling into practice in the first half, making a nice recovery to block what could have been a dangerous cross. Just before the half hour mark a difficult challenge became harder as another ball over the Crewe defence found the Chorley striker who fired into the bottom left corner on the half volley to make it 3-0.

As the half drew to a close despite absorbing more pressure from the home side, CALFC didn't stop working and battled for every ball creating some more chances ourselves in the process. After some good work on the left wing, Lambourne cut inside and found some space but her effort was just wide of the near post.

The start of the second half didn't go as planned for the Alex Ladies as four minutes in Chorley made it 4-0 with their first attack after the break. A low cross from the right hand side found the striker inside the box in too much space before she turned the ball past Townsend. The CALFC keeper was quick off her line soon after as a through ball played the striker in once more but the pace of Townsend forced the error. Booth had the first chance of the half for Crewe, driving forward and winning possession back but firing straight at the keeper.

Fallon was introduced just before the hour mark replacing Georgina Stebbings, and less than three minutes later the striker played a part in the CALFC goal, finding Grice before a fantastic cross from the young winger was steered under the Chorley keeper by Booth, a goal which was definitely deserved after the battling start to the second half. The second and final substitution saw Kirsty Stafford come on to replace Howard.

As the second half progressed the more CALFC gained confidence, looking much more comfortable in possession with Grice in particular causing havoc with her crosses while Fallon was making an excellent impact from the bench. With more attacking taking place we were at risk of being caught out at the back and the Chorley striker found herself in a good amount of space on the left hand side but the brilliant tracking back of Lambourne put enough pressure on to force a poor shot.

With 15 minutes to go a free-kick given away close to the edge of the area by CALFC gave the home side a good opportunity to make it 5-1 but some good hands from Townsend kept it at a three goal gap. The back four was looking a stronger unit as the half wore on with Green dominant in the air clearing anything Chorley threw at her while Nuttall, Derry and Stafford tracked back well to clear any danger.

The Chorley keeper didn't look comfortable with the ball at her feet and pressure from Booth and Fallon forced some loose clearances. CALFC ended the game very positively with three decent chances to get a second goal, first from a driven Booth cross which evaded a Crewe player in the box to finish before the winger made a brilliant run from just inside the Chorley half, cut inside a defender but fired inches over the bar. The final chance fell to Lambourne who headed a Booth cross wide of the mark as the game ended 4-1.

The character and commitment shown from the players especially after falling 4-0 down deserves a lot of credit and has provided a lot of positives to take into a big game next Sunday afternoon as Brighouse Town Ladies visit the Cumberland Arena.