Page 19 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.26 2021-22

Rangers thanks to Scarlet Darnton and Phoebe Hamilton.
Abingdon Utd are through to the semi finals of the League Cup following their 3-2
victory over Ascot Utd. Lauren May was the heroine for Abingdon as she scored a hat-trick,
whilst Ascot's replies came from Hayley Cruickshank and Isabel Woods.
West Midlands League
Lichfield City held on to their three point lead in the Premier Division after an Alicia Bailes
double and Courtney Dilger gave them a 3-0 victory over Lye Town. Sutton Coldfield
Town stay on their heels after beating Redditch Utd 3-0, Niamh Deasy netting twice and
Sophie Levick adding the other, and Stourbridge kept themselves firmly in the race by
winning 4-1 at Worcester City with goals from Cheryl Edwards, Esme Moran, Courteney
Murphy and Georgia Thacker. Hannah Vincent meanwhile scored the only goal of the game
as Crusaders won 1-0 at Tamworth.
Shrewsbury Town strengthened their position at the top of Division One North,
thanks to a 5-0 victory at Darlaston Town. Vikki Owen led the scoring for the Shrews with
a hat-trick and there was one apiece from Paris Schofield and Madison Jones. Sandwell
Ladies are second, four points behind Shrewsbury, after coming from behind to win 2-1 at
Shifnal Town. Rebecca-Lee Bown had given Shifnal a first half lead but after the break,
Sandwell hit back to take the points with strikes from Phoebe Hopwood and Marsha Malik.
Walsall Wood have entered the top three after their 13-1 win against Wyrley Ladies was
spearheaded by a six-goal haul from Rosie Hargreaves, whilst Tayler Davies hit a hat-trick and
Leanne Johnson (2), Danielle Walsh and Rhiannon Armstrong rounded off the scoring.
Solihull Sporting have moved two points ahead in Division One South after beating
Rugby Town 6-1. Naomi Melbourne and Lauren Smith each netted twice along with Isabelle
Haigh and Leah Williams. Demi-Lee Rolph netted a brace for second placed Knowle as they
drew 2-2 with Sedgley & Gornal Utd, for whom Olivia Lloyd and Arshi Zahoor were on
target. Katie Edwards netted both goals as Kingfisher won 2-0 at Leamington Lions and
a first half strike from Danielle Statham gave Rugby Borough the points at Cookley
Sports.
The two remaining quarter final ties in the Premier Division Cup were played and
Coventry Sphinx went through on penalties after sharing a 2-2 draw with City of Stoke.
Ellie-Mai Northall and Millie Webb scored the goals for Coventry, with Kiera Willdigg and
Kim Barber replying. Coventry's opponents in the last four will be Kidderminster
Harriers who progressed with a 2-0 victory over Coundon Court, with goals from Sarah
Lojko and Dani Selmes.
Coventry excited to face Arsenal
Coventry United will play one of the biggest matches in their history on Sunday, when they
take on Arsenal in the quarter finals of the Vitalty Women’s FA Cup. The last surviving
Championship team in the competition will have a chance to put some troubled months
behind them and take on the Barclays FA WSL leaders for a place in the last four.
"I'm excited, what a draw for us," smiled vice captain Natalie Johnson. "I've never
played them in my career so I'm excited.
"With the form we've been in - we've been four games unbeaten - we've got a bit of
momentum, the group's feeling good and we're excited, so hopefully we'll give Arsenal a good
game."
Head coach Jo Potter, who played for Arsenal during her career, added: "We're prepar-
ing well, looking forward to the spectacle and going down there and playing in an FA Cup
quarter final, which a lot of these women have never done before.
"We definitely know we are going to know a lot more about them than they're going to
know about us, so that's in our favour. We're coming off the back of four good results and two
clean sheets, so we're in good shape going into this game and we want to enjoy it."
Issue no. 26 - 17 March 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk