Women's Report | Double Delight for the Royals

Woking 0-2 AFC Portchester
Southern Region Women's Football League
Eastwood Centre
17th September 2023

Back-to-back league defeats against AFC Portchester saw Woking still yet to get points on the board this season. Two goals on either side of the half were enough on the day for the visitors

The game's first chance fell to the Cards after a deflection found captain Kaitlin Howard at the back post, but despite her stretched leg, she just missed the ball.

Arguably the best chance came when Sheena Nichol found Charlotte Keenan with a great forward pass and played her through one versus one, but the former’s effort was brilliantly saved.

The Royals’ first moment followed shortly after when they hit the post from a direct corner before the ball was eventually cleared.

The opposition were growing into the game with confidence and tried their luck with much quicker passes. They had a great chance to go in front after splitting the defence, but Laura Mitchell stood her ground and intercepted the ball with a perfect tackle inside the box.

However, just three minutes later, AFC Portchester took the lead after a cross towards the back post evaded the Woking defence and found their number 9 who tapped home.

It should be noted that the entirety of the first half was played in quiet treacherous conditions and at times it was impossible to hear anything on the pitch other than the downpour of rain. Therefore, this made it a lot harder to communicate with one another on the pitch.

HT: Woking 0-1 AFC Portchester

A change at half-time saw young 16-year-old Gracie Price replace Alicia Christie in midfield as the Cards looked to get back on level terms. Another substitution followed later on, this time it was Gaby Hobday replacing Efrosyni Theocharous.

On the hour mark, despite the little action, the visitors doubled their lead after beating debutant Amy Jenkins in goal. A shot from the left-hand side found its way into the bottom right corner after it initially wriggled past two defenders.

Sophie Burgess came on for her first appearance of the season after replacing Fran Cotter at the back and this saw a few movements elsewhere across the pitch.

There were little and far between chances for both sides in the second half, but after finding space outside the box, Sheena took on one of her customary long-range efforts, however, she was unable to really test the goalkeeper as it was caught well.

Sian Hardaker was another player to register her first appearance of the season as she replaced Bianca Underhill with 15 minutes to go. Then five minutes later Woking made their fifth and final sub as Trudy Bryan-Kerr replaced Keenan in their final through of the dice.

With time running out, Portchester nearly added a third but a great stop from Amy prevented it from happening, as she got down low to make a fantastic save.
To some up the day, Sheena had a free kick from around 35 yards out beat the wall but saw her effort punched over the bar by the ‘keeper, in what was the last chance before the referee called time.

FT: Woking 0-2 AFC Portchester

Despite the two league defeats, it’s difficult to evaluate the position of the team amongst others in the league as they’ve faced the same opposition twice. AFC Portchester have shown they will be a team near the top come the end of the season and for Woking it’s now about turning their attention the next Sunday’s travels, as they’ll face Eastleigh in the Community Ladies Reserves.

Woking Starting XI: Jenkins, Boddy, Underhill (73), Mitchell, Cotter (63), Nichol, Ogle, Theocharous (56), Howard, Keenan (80), Christie (46)

Subs: Burgess (63), Hobday (56), Bryan-Kerr (80), Hardaker (73), Price (46)

Attendance: 33

Player of the Match: Laura Mitchell