X11 Ladies Season 52, Matchday 1 report. Here we go again...
The first game of the new season took Viking South Utsira to one of their Division 1a promotion rivals last season, Eternal Wars.
However it was a rather changed opponent The Blood Eagles faced, and not for the better. A managerial opening in the top flight had induced a merry-go-round which saw the old boss at the DevilGod stadium, Mathias_00, up sticks. His replacement clearly knows which side of that everlasting battle he is on, based on the appalling kits he immediately switched his new team to.
With the visitors now clearly under the control of a scumbag, victory for Viking felt more essential than ever. After a cautious first half, Velvet Android’s team picked things up after the break and struck twice through Bergljot Kvalvik on 62 minutes and Emilie Klovning on 78.
Suck on that one, pillock.
A late season loss of form coinciding with young players coming through who needed games saw Drakaina miss out on promotion last term, remaining in Division 4i instead.
They opened the new campaign against a promoted side, Busby Babes, whose dodgy name for a Women’s team we will let pass give its historical basis. The match proved a tightly contested affair. The Dragons shaded it, but not enough for Etienne’s girls to find a breakthrough. The good news was the clean sheet at the other end, despite the loss of defender Roseanne Beattie to injury (8 days) after little over half-an-hours play.
OTF other fifth tier representatives this season will be Csiki Girls, whose back-to-back titles in Divisions 6:62 and 5:31 had lifted them to this level.
The Csiki’s first test was a big one, as they took on a Chi City Chicks side that had been two tiers higher last term. That said, momentum was clearly with Ad Hoc’s team and they certainly exuded belief in a first half that was missing was a finishing touch until Robin Neaves applied one in the 41st minute. That was a debut league goal for 23/10 forward Neaves, who has been brought in to fill the gap left by the unexpected departure of Ellie Clevan (Neaves is one skill bar higher).
1-0 was under-representative of how on top The Csiki’s had been in the first half, so there could be few complaints when Saoirse McInns added a second on 55 minutes. McInns would go on to make it properly reflective at 3-0 with her second of the day late on as the A kertem outfit made a thoroughly impressive debut in Division 4p.
Erbil, looking to go one or two better after narrowly missing out last season, began their Division 5:16 campaign against a Liverpool facsimile, Spion Kop Ladies.
The Kopites took the lead fairly early on, and then appeared content to try and hold on to that advantage for the rest of the game. This invited Jdsx’s side on to them, and though Erbil struggled to create chances before half-time they got things going in the minutes immediately after the break, Sandra Brundin equalising on 50 minutes.
Erbil kept the intensity up following their leveller, and were given a big chance to turn things around completely when referee Bribe pointed to the spot on 63 minutes. Saga Isgren took responsibility and buried her kick. It would prove the winner as Erbil started on a high.
The first game following promotion is normally one of excitement and a little trepidation about what the new standard of foe will be like. That wasn’t so for LNWR Locomotive as the fixture computer arranged for them to start against the side they had edged into runners-up position in Division 6:33 last term but who had subsequently gone up themselves in the via the play-offs, Stoke City Ladies XI.
All very familiar stuff for The Steamers then, who went into the game with their title-clinching 1-0 win at the Britannia Stadium. in the last game of last season firmly in mind. It wasn’t long before Locomotive were back at the same score, Phrigit Heart firing in a thirty-yarder just 7 minutes into the game. Viktor Boskovic’s charges did not let up from there, and in fact added two more. Both came from the boot of Tekla Severinsson, a breakaway on 42 minutes and a close-range finish on 72.
Severinsson’s second meant that LNWR had registered the most goals and the biggest win on the first day of Division 5:17.
Coxy Ladies Wulpen took on an old foe, but also one they had been two tiers above last term, when they visited kirkburton Juniors in their first Division 5:18 game.
The Waders looked the stronger side in the first half, and went ahead in the last seconds of it when Laetitia Vandenbergh got her head to a corner. However they didn’t build on this, and came under concerted pressure from the hosts after the break which resulted in an equaliser on 62 minutes. Janik’s team ended up hanging on, as two minor injuries gave them a rather more fresh-faced looked than was ever intended.
The latest episode in the feel-good story of Ullapool Northern Star saw them make the long journey to ŽFK Partizan Beograd to play their first sixth tier match in nearly 20 seasons (when the club was a very different beast) and their first under current boss Delicatemoth.
Her team suffered a setback early on when young superstar Mary-Leslie Mair went down with a 13 day injury after just 20 minutes had gone. Despite this Ullapool continued to press, and in theory had a more talented strikeforce in Sonia Menashi and Astrid Sehlstedt. However they were to drawn a blank despite distinctly winning the chances count, 4-1.
At the other end, Star ‘keeper Helen Hess kept a clean sheet despite having to play the last quarter-hour with a minor injury suffered after all three subs had been used. It meant Ullapool started life in Division5:19 with a decent away point.
Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC had the unusual (for them) experience of playing in the same Division as last season, 5:21, the Indonesians having been promoted or relegated in the preceding 6 campaigns.
Their first opponents after this confusing lack of movement were Twin Peaks Owls, who, like The Sea Spirits, were beaten in the play-offs last term. However the match did not have the look of an encounter between two peers as Kanjeng dominated from start to finish. The first half brought 56% of the ball and three chances to zip, and the second slightly less possession but more opportunities.
What was missing was an goal, though, as SeanoftheShed’s charges couldn’t seem to blow the Owls door down. Time was running out when the ball was laid to Adèle Pailloux 25 yards out, and she absolutely laced it into the bottom corner. Relief and a deserved win finally secured... or not as deep into stoppage time the hosts manufactured their first chance of the game, and converted it to for the absolutely theft of a point.
N.B. I never watched Twin Peaks, so have no references to offer despite being sure that a crime like this will have lots of relevant parallels in the TV show. I’m not sure how to work in the one thing I do know, that David Duchovny plays a trans woman in it. You never get that sort of admission in a David Squires cartoon, do you? He must have some blanks in his pop cultural knowledge... somewhere.
Alongside Csiki Girls, the other OTF side riding a wave of success is Zeugma Dostluk Spor, who have won Divisions 7:27 and 6:53 in their last two seasons. That lifted them into Division 5:27, the first time back at this level for a number of years, and a debut game 1o Dezembro.
The match was shaded by the home side on possession and chances, but only marginally. The standout feature for both sides were their defence, particularly Zeugma’s backline, lead by skipper Ophelia Blatherwick (Yorkshire posh), who successfully rushed and took the sting out of the shots so that young ‘keeper Candan Yener (18/4) was able to keep a clean sheet on her debut.
The battling performance by Antepli Ejderha’s side gives hope of a decent a season, though there were also signs that the challenge has gone up a couple of notches with promotion.
Code:
Division 1a Eternal Wars 0 - 2 Viking South Utsira B.Kvalvik 62' E.Klovning 78' Division 4i Drakaina 0 - 0 Busby Babes Division 4p Csiki Girls 3 - 0 Chi City Chicks Neaves 41' McInns 55', 86' Division 5:16 Erbil 2 - 1 Spion Kop Ladies Brundin 50' Luff 23' Isgren (pen) 63' Division 5:17 LNWR Locomotive 3 - 0 Stoke City Ladies XI Heart 7' Severinsson 42', 72' Division 5:18 kirkburton Juniors 1 - 1 Coxy Ladies Wulpen Simon 62' Vandenbergh 45' Division 5:19 ŽFK Partizan Beograd 0 - 0 Ullapool Northern Star Division 5:21 Twin Peaks Owls 1 - 1 Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC Granli 92' Pailloux 87' Division 5:27 1o Dezembro 0 - 0 Zeugma Dostluk Spor Division 5:29 Menywod Maeshafn 2 - 1 Malta Westerberg (pen) 57', 62' Mangiani 4' Empire Of The Sun 3 - 0 Dublin City WFC Michaelis 61', 71' Joh 74' Division 6:40 Sockford Emollient 3 - 0 Kiss FC Batistuta 60' Mullins 88' Ericson 92' Division 6:41 Bobek 1 - 1 Invisible Ladies Vidic 57' Paul 24' Division 6:42 Solent Sirens 0 - 2 Rotnäset BK Gnestad 72' Labant 89' Witches of Chiswick 6 - 0 Riverbankers FC Matzuoka 17' Mercier 27', 45' Shiraishi 42' Ota 52', 58'
However it was a rather changed opponent The Blood Eagles faced, and not for the better. A managerial opening in the top flight had induced a merry-go-round which saw the old boss at the DevilGod stadium, Mathias_00, up sticks. His replacement clearly knows which side of that everlasting battle he is on, based on the appalling kits he immediately switched his new team to.
With the visitors now clearly under the control of a scumbag, victory for Viking felt more essential than ever. After a cautious first half, Velvet Android’s team picked things up after the break and struck twice through Bergljot Kvalvik on 62 minutes and Emilie Klovning on 78.
Suck on that one, pillock.
A late season loss of form coinciding with young players coming through who needed games saw Drakaina miss out on promotion last term, remaining in Division 4i instead.
They opened the new campaign against a promoted side, Busby Babes, whose dodgy name for a Women’s team we will let pass give its historical basis. The match proved a tightly contested affair. The Dragons shaded it, but not enough for Etienne’s girls to find a breakthrough. The good news was the clean sheet at the other end, despite the loss of defender Roseanne Beattie to injury (8 days) after little over half-an-hours play.
OTF other fifth tier representatives this season will be Csiki Girls, whose back-to-back titles in Divisions 6:62 and 5:31 had lifted them to this level.
The Csiki’s first test was a big one, as they took on a Chi City Chicks side that had been two tiers higher last term. That said, momentum was clearly with Ad Hoc’s team and they certainly exuded belief in a first half that was missing was a finishing touch until Robin Neaves applied one in the 41st minute. That was a debut league goal for 23/10 forward Neaves, who has been brought in to fill the gap left by the unexpected departure of Ellie Clevan (Neaves is one skill bar higher).
1-0 was under-representative of how on top The Csiki’s had been in the first half, so there could be few complaints when Saoirse McInns added a second on 55 minutes. McInns would go on to make it properly reflective at 3-0 with her second of the day late on as the A kertem outfit made a thoroughly impressive debut in Division 4p.
Erbil, looking to go one or two better after narrowly missing out last season, began their Division 5:16 campaign against a Liverpool facsimile, Spion Kop Ladies.
The Kopites took the lead fairly early on, and then appeared content to try and hold on to that advantage for the rest of the game. This invited Jdsx’s side on to them, and though Erbil struggled to create chances before half-time they got things going in the minutes immediately after the break, Sandra Brundin equalising on 50 minutes.
Erbil kept the intensity up following their leveller, and were given a big chance to turn things around completely when referee Bribe pointed to the spot on 63 minutes. Saga Isgren took responsibility and buried her kick. It would prove the winner as Erbil started on a high.
The first game following promotion is normally one of excitement and a little trepidation about what the new standard of foe will be like. That wasn’t so for LNWR Locomotive as the fixture computer arranged for them to start against the side they had edged into runners-up position in Division 6:33 last term but who had subsequently gone up themselves in the via the play-offs, Stoke City Ladies XI.
All very familiar stuff for The Steamers then, who went into the game with their title-clinching 1-0 win at the Britannia Stadium. in the last game of last season firmly in mind. It wasn’t long before Locomotive were back at the same score, Phrigit Heart firing in a thirty-yarder just 7 minutes into the game. Viktor Boskovic’s charges did not let up from there, and in fact added two more. Both came from the boot of Tekla Severinsson, a breakaway on 42 minutes and a close-range finish on 72.
Severinsson’s second meant that LNWR had registered the most goals and the biggest win on the first day of Division 5:17.
Coxy Ladies Wulpen took on an old foe, but also one they had been two tiers above last term, when they visited kirkburton Juniors in their first Division 5:18 game.
The Waders looked the stronger side in the first half, and went ahead in the last seconds of it when Laetitia Vandenbergh got her head to a corner. However they didn’t build on this, and came under concerted pressure from the hosts after the break which resulted in an equaliser on 62 minutes. Janik’s team ended up hanging on, as two minor injuries gave them a rather more fresh-faced looked than was ever intended.
The latest episode in the feel-good story of Ullapool Northern Star saw them make the long journey to ŽFK Partizan Beograd to play their first sixth tier match in nearly 20 seasons (when the club was a very different beast) and their first under current boss Delicatemoth.
Her team suffered a setback early on when young superstar Mary-Leslie Mair went down with a 13 day injury after just 20 minutes had gone. Despite this Ullapool continued to press, and in theory had a more talented strikeforce in Sonia Menashi and Astrid Sehlstedt. However they were to drawn a blank despite distinctly winning the chances count, 4-1.
At the other end, Star ‘keeper Helen Hess kept a clean sheet despite having to play the last quarter-hour with a minor injury suffered after all three subs had been used. It meant Ullapool started life in Division5:19 with a decent away point.
Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC had the unusual (for them) experience of playing in the same Division as last season, 5:21, the Indonesians having been promoted or relegated in the preceding 6 campaigns.
Their first opponents after this confusing lack of movement were Twin Peaks Owls, who, like The Sea Spirits, were beaten in the play-offs last term. However the match did not have the look of an encounter between two peers as Kanjeng dominated from start to finish. The first half brought 56% of the ball and three chances to zip, and the second slightly less possession but more opportunities.
What was missing was an goal, though, as SeanoftheShed’s charges couldn’t seem to blow the Owls door down. Time was running out when the ball was laid to Adèle Pailloux 25 yards out, and she absolutely laced it into the bottom corner. Relief and a deserved win finally secured... or not as deep into stoppage time the hosts manufactured their first chance of the game, and converted it to for the absolutely theft of a point.
N.B. I never watched Twin Peaks, so have no references to offer despite being sure that a crime like this will have lots of relevant parallels in the TV show. I’m not sure how to work in the one thing I do know, that David Duchovny plays a trans woman in it. You never get that sort of admission in a David Squires cartoon, do you? He must have some blanks in his pop cultural knowledge... somewhere.
Alongside Csiki Girls, the other OTF side riding a wave of success is Zeugma Dostluk Spor, who have won Divisions 7:27 and 6:53 in their last two seasons. That lifted them into Division 5:27, the first time back at this level for a number of years, and a debut game 1o Dezembro.
The match was shaded by the home side on possession and chances, but only marginally. The standout feature for both sides were their defence, particularly Zeugma’s backline, lead by skipper Ophelia Blatherwick (Yorkshire posh), who successfully rushed and took the sting out of the shots so that young ‘keeper Candan Yener (18/4) was able to keep a clean sheet on her debut.
The battling performance by Antepli Ejderha’s side gives hope of a decent a season, though there were also signs that the challenge has gone up a couple of notches with promotion.
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