QPR Ladies 4:1 Plymouth Argyle Ladies
The QPR Ladies completed an amazing season by thumping their closest rivals in Plymouth Argyle to secure the title and promotion to the FA Tesco Premier Women’s Southern Division!
You couldn’t really have asked for a better performance from these ladies because it was nearly faultless and contained just about everything that’s great about this team. There was a beautiful balance about us and we showed our best traits that have lit up our season from our resilience at the back, to our grit and determination in midfield and our flair going forward. It was a performance full of character and personality and boy do we have that in droves.
We entered the match with our fair share of problems. Susannah Abbott, who has had a sensational season, was ruled out with a virus and we had Tammy Scrivens, Seun Odeniyi and Jade Holes all carrying bad ankle injuries and faced late fitness tests. Even our first-team coach Tony Milstead was also unable to make the game either due to a knee injury but none of it mattered as we just got on with the job at hand.
We decided to risk playing Tammy and Seun while Jade took a place on the bench. Seun had to be withdrawn early on in the match after her ankle gave way around 20 minutes in thanks to a 50-50 challenge.
Before the game I told the players that they deserved this and to go out there and win in style and to take Plymouth apart. I told them to show them why we’d been top all season and to send them packing back home and to make their remaining three games in hand an absolute misery by giving them nothing to play for. I also asked them to trust each other on the pitch and told them that we trusted and believed in them and would be there behind them all the way from the side.
I hadn’t meant to really say anything as we’d already had talks from Tino and Miguel, but in the heat of the moment, it just came out and I’m pleased that I did because I’ve been wanting to tell these players just how highly I think of them all season and how impressed I’ve been with their application and attitude.
From the minute the first whistle blew we looked relaxed but up for it. I really loved the way we bullied them aggressively all over the park but in an honest and fair fashion. There was a focus and determination about our play that told its own story – there was no way we were not going to win this game let alone not lose it.
There’s been times this season when we’ve not been as clinical as we would have liked, but it all came to fruition here and when it mattered we produced the goods and took our chances really well. Cherrelle Albert opened the scoring with a brave and courageous goal by pouncing on a defensive error and beating three players to the ball to head home. Prior to that Eartha Pond hit the crossbar with a stunning strike from about 35 yards from a free-kick which had the Plymouth keeper beaten hands down.
We had dominated proceedings and had put in a really committed display that had our opponents rattled but we still sensed there was more to come from our team. At half-time we explained to them what we wanted to do tactically and we knew they had to come out and go for the result, so we needed to show a bit more care and patience and play a little more football to open them up as we hadn’t really built the play across the back four as we’d done at various points this season. We felt we could score another and we told the team to go out there looking for more goals and to not be afraid of continuing to take the game to them.
In the second-half Plymouth did fashion out a fortunate chance after a high looping shot from distance, which didn’t seem to be much of a threat, got caught up in the sun and gave Emily Bourne a problem. She couldn’t see it properly as it came down and bounced off her and landed right at the feet of a Plymouth player who had a free shot on goal, but Emily recovered quickly and narrowed the angle before making a brilliant save from point blank range.
We then went down the other end and Eartha Pond extended our lead from the penalty spot from what I thought was a soft penalty, even though it was hand ball. It was one of those that you can see why they are or aren’t given, and on this occasion I thought it was more of a penalty than not, but we’ve been on the back end of so many poor decisions this season that we were happy this one went in our favour and that sucked the life out of Plymouth.
Eartha fired in her second to triple our lead shortly after and then we scored the goal of the match through Amy Murphy. We won the ball in the defensive midfield area and scored from a scintillating counter attack. Carla Williams picked up the ball wide on the left and held it up before playing in Cherrelle who dribbled forward with pace and laid in Amy Murphy who was flanking quickly from the right. As the play spread from one side to the next at pace, Amy still had a lot to do and needed to take a good touch to set the ball in her stride which she did beautifully before firing in off the post for added effect! A marvellous goal.
Plymouth did get on the scoresheet with a consolation goal from the penalty spot in injury time, but it was too little too late and with them ending the game with just 9 players thanks to two late red cards, there was never any doubt we were going to win and we’d beaten them convincingly when they had all 11 on the pitch.
I was actually a little bit surprised at how they lost their discipline and got players sent off. You could sense the occasion got to them and that they felt the game was slipping away from them once we got our noses in front. They looked a beaten side early on and sort of played in a manner that gave the impression they were feeling sorry for themselves. But that can happen in important games and you have to say they sort of let themselves down a little bit because there was a lot of back chatting to the referee, our players, our staff and there was also an incident where one of their players threw the ball in the face of one of ours as she lay hurt on the floor after being fouled. I still liked some aspects of their play however and could understand why they were up there with us, even if they did lose their focus at times during the game. They’ve got some quality players who are a handful to deal with.
But our performance was worthy of Champions and was a fitting way to end the campaign. It was the biggest game of the season for both sides and with them beating us 3-0 just a few weeks ago, you would have thought we’d be running scared for this one. They had to win to stop us from taking the title and put their destiny in their own hands, but we were the ones who played without any fear and with a steely determination to prove that we are the best there is in the division.
It wasn’t our best football we’ve played this season but it was our most complete in the sense that we showed all the bits and pieces we’ve had to during the campaign that we’re good at. The hunger, desire, passion and commitment was there for all to see and we were ruthless in our quest to win the title and the personality of the team flourished like a rainbow on the day.
Tammy Scrivens put in a phenomenal performance in the midfield. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a player put in a display as commanding as that one. It was sensationally powerful and she led by example by winning pretty much every tackle and header she went for and bossed the midfield from start to finish. I lost count of the amount of times she broke up dangerous attacks or put her body on the line to bully Plymouth into submission. She had winner written all over her and did it with a badly bruised and swollen ankle to boot. She drove the team forward in a way that other players can learn from and it was so pleasing to see her using her experience by also taking the time to put her arm around her young midfield partner in Leigh Holes and guiding her throughout the match.
Melanie Bidewell and Simone Dwyer did an equally similar job at the back and won all their tackles and headers in what was a typically committed display from these two. You could really tell how much these two ladies wanted it and how much it meant to them by the way they played. I thought Melanie was outstanding and put in her best performance from the games her play I’ve seen this season. At one point in the second half she popped up on the left wing of all places and went on a sensational mazy run that took her into the edge of the box…had she scored from that one I think it would have been a contender for goal of the season!
Amy Murphy also deserves a mention because the way she grafted for the team was immense. Her willingness to work both ways for her team-mates was really admirable and her tactical awareness from a defensive perspective for a right-winger was outstanding and on the day, this part of her play was really on another level. The amount of times she tracked back and covered players or mopped up danger when Plymouth broke from deep was something to really marvel at. She also scored a beautiful fourth goal from a stunning counter attack of our own and she deserved that for her performance.
And the way we scored that, and the style in which we scored it, has made that my favourite goal of the season.
Having reached the end of the campaign and seen many teams now, I’d still say that the best team I saw us come up against was Yeovil Town who I thought were a terrific little side with a beautiful system and style their suited their players and strengths. But I still haven’t seen anything that’s better than us yet, and while I am a Rangers man and Rangers fan, I know in my heart that I’m not being biased when I say that. We’ve won more games, scored more goals, conceded fewer and showed better consistency than any other team this season and that’s why we’re worthy Champions and it feels so, so good to be able to say that.
As a Rangers fan, I’ve never been able to say those words before and I can’t tell you how pleased and proud I am to be able to now and that it was these players and this team that gifted that to me.
Well done ladies, you’ve worked your socks off all the way from pre-season until now and you’ve earned your rewards which you richly deserve. A wonderful end to a magnificent season and I’ve loved every single minute of it.
Team: Emily Bourne, Ceryl Guard, Seun Odeniyi (Nicki Crump), Simone Dwyer, Melanie Bidewell, Amy Murphy, Eartha Pond, Tammy Scrivens, Leigh Holes (Carla Williams), Lucy Dewar (Hannah Curnow), Cherrelle Albert
Subs: Jessica Devoti, Jade Holes, Nicki Crump, Hannah Curnow, Carla Williams
Goals: Albert, Pond 2 & Murphy
And with great pleasure, I leave you now with a series of photos I took of that goal… You Rs!!!
