QPR Ladies 6:1 Oxford City
This is what I had been waiting for. The past eight weeks of hard work in pre-season training were put to test against the newly promoted Oxford City who provided our first test of the new season. I knew we were ready for the campaign when the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and arms in the dressing room before the game. I had goosebumps and was probably more excited than the players!
The weekend prior we had drawn 0:0 and won 3:2 out in Belgium, which provided our final pre-season preparations before the real thing and the QPR Ladies started their season with a bang thanks to a resounding 6:1 victory at Brook House.
The home side took the lead through Cherelle Albert who scored with a long range strike before the visitors equalised through a soft goal from a throw. The Hoops though continued to push forward and Carla Williams put us back in front with a fantastically placed header after being found by Susannah Abbott’s cross. Williams extended our lead further before half-time with another well taken goal after dribbling past several City defenders before coolly slotting the ball home with her left foot.
We went in at half-time with a 3:1 lead, but it was the second-half performance that had everybody purring. The Hoops got the ball down and played some beautiful football and really dominated the half which saw three more goals added to the scoreline. Albert got her second with a low drive inside the box after being found by Amy Murphy and Williams just failed to grab her hat-trick after striking the inside of the post. Substitute Tanya Beverley came on for the injured Lucy Dewar and finished the game off by also scoring twice; one a diving header and the other from a low strike from an acute angle.
I was really impressed with our performance, particularly in the second-half which was outstanding and very enjoyable to watch. It would have been worth paying to see. We got the ball down on the deck and played some great football which deserved more than just the three goals it yielded in that period. Still, it’s a fine start to the season for the first-team and a terrific three points!
Team: Emily Cure (GK), Caroline Barker, Ceryl Guard, Simone Dwyer (Capt), Mel Bidewell, Susannah Abbott, Amy Murphy, Lucy Dewar (Tanya Beverley), Suze Wylie (Hannah Curnow), Carla Williams, Cherrelle Albert (Danielle Richards)
Goals: Albert 2, Williams 2, Beverley 2.
