The QPR Ladies 3rds won the Thames Valley Women’s League Cup in style with a convincing 2-1 victory over Mansfield Road on a hot sunny afternoon, a feat all the more impressive considering the opposition are top of the league and were also unbeaten until this point too!
For a side so young to dominate an experienced team, who were unbeaten, is really impressive and the players and the coaching staff deserve a lot of credit. We were on top for the majority of the game, created the best openings and chances and played the better football too.
In the first-half, we battled and were somewhat direct, almost competing with Mansfield Road like-for-like, which can happen in final’s when nerves come into play and there is so much at stake, but in the second, we upped our game and played football the way we wanted, spreading the play and using our width and wide players much more effectively.
Vanessa Oppong broke the deadlock with a strike that was something to behold. She got control of the ball 25 yards out, got the ball out of her feet and let rip with a sweet drive that flew past the keeper high into the far corner of the net to give us the lead.
We tried to push on from there and were always looking to extend our advantage, but we were a bit unfortunate that a mistake led to their equaliser just before half-time. But the good thing is we were not deterred by that and never let it get us down. The players responded and rose to the challenge in the second period and we dominated for large spells, creating plenty of good attacking opportunities and also striking the cross bar through Eleni Savva.
But the team’s willingness to work hard and do the dirty work eventually got us the goal we wanted. Eleni tracked back and made a good tackle to win possession and the ball broke nicely to Scarlett Hanharan who slipped in a beautiful pass into Chloe Julien. Chloe took the ball in her stride and and showed terrific composure and a cool head to hone in on goal and slot the ball in to give us the lead.
It was no more than we deserved and Chloe has come on leaps and bounds since I last saw her. She led the line well and was a constant nuisance, both on the deck and in the air, despite her lack of height and her fitness meant that she had the legs to keep buzzing in and around Mansfield Road defence to keep them busy.
After the goal there was a calmness about the team that really impressed me as well. They looked like they knew they were in control and were not going to give Mansfield Road another opportunity to get back in and they saw the game out well. We played football in the right way, but we also put in a tackle when we needed to as well.
In big games like these, you always look towards the flair players to produce that magic and unlock the door and there were many impressive and strong performances out there. Chloe led the line excellently up front and you couldn’t ask for a better script to be written when a massive Rangers fan scores the winner, could you? I was delighted for her. Eleni’s technique and vision were above the majority on the day and she had some lovely moments on the ball and Vanessa put in a typically strong and dominating performance in the middle and bossed it in there from start to finish.
But there was one player who really stood out for me – she was everywhere and her consistency and solidness was a joy to behold. The amount of headers and interceptions she won was just awesome and in Layla White, we have a youngster here who has terrific leadership and organisational qualities that belittle her years. A really commanding and powerful performance from her and if she keeps going the way she is, she’ll be captaining a side at some point in the future.
I’m chuffed to bits for all of them, but as I said last season, it’s about pushing on and continuing to strive for better and these players need to make sure they retain the desire and hunger they’ve shown all season until the very last kick of the campaign. I don’t measure success as a one off, I measure it by being able to consistently produce game after game and year after year and with a squad as young as this one, there’s no reason why that can’t happen for them.
Well done ladies, a throughly deserved win!
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