Bradford City Women unfortunately bowed out of the FAWNL Plate competition with a penalty defeat again Midlands team Boldmere St Michaels Women. City actually came back from being behind twice, once in normal time and then again in extra time just showing how much of a fight they were going to put up to try progress to the next round of the competition, they unfortunately fell just short though with the game ending 2-4 on penalties in favour of the Boldmere St Michaels.
City started the game well with them actually having the first the first chance of the game which unfortunately found its way over the cross bar. From then on the game was pretty end to end with both teams having some good possession but just unable to break the deadlock with shots either going wide or over the bar. City did make some very promising looking runs forward with the ball in the first half and the right hand side was looking very strong with Stuart, Roberts and Hawkins all linking up really well to get City into so good positions.
Unfortunately for City though it was Boldmere who broke the deadlock with a goal that you could say was against the run of play, a nice ball through saw them able to lob the ball over Richards who managed to get a hand to it but it just wasn't enough and the ball ended up in the back of the net. City tried to respond almost immediately with Norde having a long range effort but that ended up going over the bar too. Boldmere really seemed to pick up tempo after their goal but City still didn't give up and kept trying to break Boldmere down. It was Boldmere who got the second goal of the game though with them capitalizing on the windy conditions, the corner was swung in and with the held from the wind it beat everyone and ended up in the back of the net.
It looked like the game was going to be 0-2 going into half time but once again City didn't give up and kept on pushing which paid off just before half time when City had a chance on goal which was originally saved by Boldmere but thanks to City pressing they were unable to clear their lines and the ball eventually landed with Stube who was able to slot the ball into the back of the net meaning City went into half time trailing 1-2 rather than being 2 goals behind.
The second half started really well for City with the continuing to search for the equaliser and they were once again creating some good chances but were just unable to convert them into goals. It was in the second half when frustrations really started to show not just from those on the pitch but those in the dugouts too as some terrible refereeing decisions were made and some very questionable calls were given. Boldmere ended up winning a penalty which luckily for City they were unable to convert and the ball rattled the cross bar before being cleared away from danger.
Frustrations started to boil over properly after the the penalty decision with both sides clearly getting worked up, after a run of questionable calls City's Roberts found herself in the sin bin for 10 minutes so City were down to 10 players on the field. It didn't stop City though who kept on fighting and pushing to find that equaliser and that eventually came when Roberts came back onto the pitch. City won a free kick in a dangerous position and Roberts stepped up to fire it into the back of the net, the rest of normal time City were pushing for the winner and looked like they could have possibly got one but unfortunately time ran out and the game entered a period of 30 minutes extra time with normal time ending 2-2.
It didn't take long for Boldmere to take the lead once again with the wind on their side yet another long range effort found its way over Richards and into the back of the net. Once again City were behind but not looking like they were ever going to give up. City did end up down to 10 for the remainder of the extra time with Jakeman sent off for a second yellow card offence which in all honest was very questionable seen as she got her first yellow for what seemed like simply coming on as a substitute. There was just so much confusion created the whole game from the referee and the lack of consistency in calls and to be honest it did spoil the game a bit especially with players going on to yellow cards for the most ridiculous calls. Even though City were down to 10 they didn't give up and kept pushing for that equaliser once again which eventually came when City were awarded a penalty for a handball inside the box. Stuart stepped up to take the penalty and City were once again level and neither team could find that extra goal to stop the game going to penalties. The game finished 3-3 after extra time.
Unfortunately even though City scored their 1st and 4th penalties they were just outdone by Boldmere who picked up after missing their 2nd penalty and went on to with the game 2-4 on penalties to progress into the next round of the FAWNL Plate competition. City can definitely hold their heads high from this game though as they showed that they can fight back and get themselves back into the game and not give up even when calls are going against them for the most ridiculous reasons.
As for player of the match it was actually really hard to pick this time around as each player played well for various reasons, Hawkins made some fantastic runs and never gave up and Stuart played very well in defence linking up really well with Roberts and Hawkins to get City into some good positions. Roberts just beat the rest of them though to be our player of the match as she played some great balls into some dangerous areas and got forward to create chances plus she never looked like giving up even after the time in the sin bin, she came back on scored the free kick and defended really well to stop Boldmere on some dangerous looking attacks. Roberts is definitely a stand out player to us so far this season and we are really enjoying watching her play every week.
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