Barnsley FC Ladies made it a clean sweep of October wins with a fantastic display and result against a Chorley team who hadn’t been beaten all season.
It was an incredibly fast start to the game with The Reds opening the scoring within three minutes. Lovely build up play down the right resulted in Sophie Bell whipping a teasing ball in. It floated over the head of the Chorley keeper and Lissa Woodhouse was on hand to tap the ball in from close range.
Apart from the odd chance, The Reds were far the better side in the first half and should’ve been more than just one-up at the break. Good chances for Amy Woodruff came and went after quick thinking from the Chorley stopper, arguably their best player.
The Reds were made to pay for their missed chances early in the second half. Straight from kick off, Barnsley couldn’t get a hold of the ball and Chorley capitalised. Katy Morris hit a lovely strike from 25 yards which beat Reds ‘keeper Skye Kirkham all ends up.
However, Barnsley weren’t done yet. A corner from the right was cleared but only to the edge of the box where Sophie Bell was waiting. She made Chorley pay for it by hitting a sweet shot from 18 yards that the keeper had no chance of saving.
The Reds continued to press and were rewarded with another goal. Substitute Mollie Crump was in the right place at the right time as the ball fell to her around 12 yards out. She made no mistake, stabbing the ball home to give her side a two-goal cushion.
Barnsley closed the game out without any trouble and in the end, it was definitely a deserved win for a side that have now won all four of their games (in all competitions) in October.
Reds manager Chris Hamilton said he was “absolutely delighted” after the “top class” performance from his side.
He commented: “I think from start to finish we were top class today. The results have been coming and they seem to be dropping for us now.”
