Heidi Hills netted a second half brace to inspire our Women’s Under-19s to a 3-1 win over London City Lionesses in the first round of the Professional Game Academy League Cup on Wednesday.
Having scored four goals in two games prior to the contest at Hotspur Way, the young winger continued her excellent run in front of goal striking twice in eight minutes – both goals showing composure inside the box – to give us a three-goal lead by the hour-mark after Kendra Brown’s first goal of the season in the first period.
The visitors pulled one back through Sienna Loom to create a nervy final quarter-of-an-hour in the contest, but our young side withstood the pressure to secure an important win which sends us through to the quarter-finals in the competition.
It was bit of an edgy start to the encounter as both sides traded spells of possession but very few opportunities carved out in what were chilly conditions. However, with the first real chance of the game, we broke the deadlock on 23 minutes as Mia Endacott advanced to the right byline before her low shot from a tight angle was saved by the feet of Matilda Lawrence but Brown, who netted her first senior goal earlier this month for Dulwich Hamlet after joining on a dual registration, reacted quickest to the loose ball and converted on the rebound to net on her return to the starting XI.
That upped the tempo in the contest as more chances began to fall for both sides, Lucy Hope seeing her effort from inside the box going narrowly wide after taking a small deflection on the way while Rose Mylam, who was making her first start in between the sticks after joining our Academy set-up, was out quickly to produce a perfect-timed tackle to stop Esme Johnson through on goal. Hills was denied superbly by Lawrence from close range after Endacott’s corner caused a scramble in the area before, in added time, Loom blasted a first-time effort over the bar, who would be frustrated to not test Mylam, as we maintained our one-goal lead heading into the break.
Then, seven minutes after the restart, we doubled our advantage when Endacott played Grace Bellwood down the left, who cut on to her right foot and deliver a cross to the back post, and Hills was there with a composed side-footed finish past Lawrence. Bellwood then dragged the ball wide after good build-up play from Lucy Barraclough and Hills to tee up the forward before, on the hour mark, Hills grabbed her second of the game as she showed goalscoring instincts to react first to Endacott’s long range shot hitting the bar to slot home the rebound from point-blank range – making it seven goals in seven games this term. Now in full confidence, Hills searched for her hat-trick, first forcing Lawrence into a save at her near post, before she was denied at the last minute by a retreating Lionesses’ defender inside the box following excellent pace from Endacott down the left to pick her out.
Despite being on top for large parts of the second period, the away side pulled a goal back on 72 minutes when Chloe Kabo raced to the byline and sent a low ball across the face of the goal for Loom to tap home from close range. Lexi Henson dragged an effort wide of the post before Ellie Johnson’s free-kick from distance was routinely gathered by Mylam as we withstood increased pressure from the away side. One last opportunity fell to Kabo in the third minute of stoppage time when the Lionesses' forward raced behind our backline, through one-on-one with Mylam, but Beatrice Cunnison recovered well to put pressure on her who in result could only send her effort over the bar, as we held on to record an important victory and book our spot in the quarter-final.
"I’m really impressed we were able to fight together and see out the result"
Reflecting on the game, Head Coach Sabiha Jamal said: “Everything we’ve done until now this season, we don’t disregard it, but it has all been a learning experience. There has been mistakes but that how we’ve been able to grow. As of today, it was a fresh start with a new cup competition and the second phase of league coming up, so we wanted to begin with positive momentum and that made it a must-win for us.
“I think we rose to that challenge – you could see the physicality, the desire to fight for every ball, and that was massive because we’ve lacked that here and there in the opening months, so it was nice to see that come together. We really fought in the game because there were times it lacked quality and became very transitional, but that’s what you expect from cup games. I’m really impressed we were able to fight together and see out the result.”