Finally after what feels like forever we managed to get down to the Mitton Group Stadium to see 12th place Bradford City Women take on 6th place Chester Le Street. It was a morning of checking our phones to make sure the game was going ahead as other games around the country were being postponed. Luckily Bradford's fixture survived although the game was played on quite a boggy pitch which had the possibility to cause issues for both teams, the pace of the ball and players runs was always bound to be affected.
Chester Le Street did have a chance shortly after but the shot went over the bar, there was never any danger from it, as their effort to lob Routledge was always heading over. City's movement with the ball had definitely improved too as they worked the ball well onto the wing and after two great crosses and a few scrappy clearances the ball fell to Norde's feet where her range shot ended up in the 'keepers arms. Again this chance came from City putting Chester Le Street under pressure in the box as the clearance fell to another City player.
Chester Le Street looked to put in a really dangerous cross not long after Norde's shot but captain Roberts was there to clear the ball and stop it from falling at the Chester Le Street forwards feet who was unmarked coming in behind her. If they had made connection with the ball it would have possibly been a goal so Roberts really helped City out there.
City came out and started the 2nd half as strong as they ended the first, those outfield players were showing no signs of tiring just yet. When called upon the City team really dug in deep and they got back and defended really well to keep on denying Chester Le Street, there was always a player there to help get the ball that bit further away from danger each time. There were a couple of occasions where Chester Le Street looked a threat but City's defending & some great saves from Routledge kept the score at 1-0.
After the penalty the tension that had been building all game ended up spilling over and Stuart ended up on the floor with a small scrap going on behind her, this ended with the Chester Le Street player picking up a yellow card for her involvement.
The game ended 2-2 and to be honest City should have been walking away from the game with all 3 points not just the 1. The referee's choices cost city the game and throughout led to the tension building minute by minute. Obvious calls weren't being made and the referee wasn't checking to see what the linesmen were flagging for, not only did it cause tension to build but it left both sets of players confused as they weren't sure what was been called and what for, the standards for the referees really does need improving as it is now impacting the games in a negative way, but that is a topic for another day.
The game provided a few contenders for player of the match such as Routledge for her brilliant saves, Hunt for her goal and great runs or Norde for her great runs, clearances and challenges in midfield but the player of the match for us definitely has to go to Stube. She made some fantastic plays throughout the game, got back and put in some challenges & grabbed a great goal, Stube was involved in the build up of most of City's chances and really stood out throughout the game.
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