LEEK TOWN LADIES 2 - 0 SHIFNAL TOWN LADIES

“Good first half for us. Shifnal made us work hard in the second half to keep our lead. Strong opposition so pleased with the 3 points. ” Ian Smith, Manager

Leek were back on home soil after two away games hosted Shifnal Town Ladies at Harrison Park.
Both teams started well with end to end football in the opening minutes but no clear cut chances. The game settled down and Leek started to play some good football.

Jules Kendrick found Chantelle Gallagher on the edge of the Shifnal box and she worked herself a shooting opportunity which narrowly missed the target.

Leek continued to drive forward with Rehanne Mellor and Bethany Cottrell causing problems on both flanks. It was Mellor who pulled the ball back into the path of Lacey-May Smith on 20 minutes whose strike was just over the bar.

Gallagher also had a long distance effort which she saw go just wide of the target.
Shifnal then put a good attack together which was stopped with an excellent tackle by Naomi Sale-Hancock with Katie Maya then playing the ball out of defence and starting Leek off on the attack again.
From a Shifnal goal kick Cottrell headed the ball into Gallagher who turned and beat the defender on the left hand side of the penalty area before firing into the bottom right hand corner of the net to open the scoring for Leek.

Leek continued to push forward and won a free kick just outside the Shifnal area and with a great strike from LM Smith beating the keeper to put Leek 2-0 up.

Half Time: Leek Town Ladies 2 - 0 Shifnal Town Ladies.

Leek had been on top for most of the first half but Shifnal came out for the second half with purpose and forced the Leek defence to work hard to keep them out.

The midfield area became very competitive with Rhian Morris in the thick of things breaking up play. Morris took a couple of strong challenges and had to receive treatment twice but battled on.

Shifnal now attacked down both flanks and fullbacks Emma Smith and Simone Kelsall performing well to prevent wide attacks. Leek then introduced fresh legs with Alice Painter, Alana Copeland and Michaela Lockett joining the match.

Leek were almost in when Lockett combined well with Gallagher but good defending by Shifnal prevented the shot. It was good to see Katie Gibbons returning from injury and being introduced on 75 minutes.

A mix up in communication between Leek defender and goalkeeper saw Shifnal presented with a great opportunity which ended the wrong side of the post for them.

5 minutes later and Shifnal were awarded a penalty which did seem harsh, Leek keeper Hannah Austin made a great save from the resultant spot kick to keep Leek two goals to the good.

Leek kept Shifnal out and also played some good possession football to see the game out and secure the points.

Full Time: Leek Town Ladies 2 - 0 Shifnal Town Ladies

Hannah Austin (Pictured) was awarded Leek Town player of the match.

Leek squad: Hannah Austin, Emma Smith, Naomi Sale-Hancock, Katie Maya, Simone Kelsall, Rhian Morris, Jules Kendrick, Rehanne Mellor, Lacey-May Smith, Bethany Cottrell, Chantelle Gallagher, Alice Painter, Alana Copeland, Michaela Lockett, Katie Gibbons.

Updated 09:40 - 30 Aug 2019 by Steve Reynolds