The opening game to the league campaign was marred by a bad injury to youngster Sophie Fogarty five minutes from time, which led to the match having to be abandoned early.

Sophie suffered a knee injury and needs further scans to understand the full extend of the damage, but it’s clear she will be out of action for some time. It’s a huge loss for the side and a massive shame for Sophie, after breaking onto the scene so emphatically last season.

As for the match, this was never a four-nil, despite Keynsham Town being the better side on the day on the whole. We started brightly, played some decent football and almost had our noses in front when Beth Curtis hit a spectacular volley from outside the penalty box towards the right that came back into play off the inside of the post.

Then we had a clear penalty shout when Sophie was bundled over as she broke into the box by the Keynsham captain. I thought it was a nailed on penalty myself, considering the defender never went for the ball, but the referee waved play on.

Keynsham then responded themselves and where our luck wasn’t in, theirs was. We conceded a soft free-kick in the middle of the park and didn’t react fast enough as the possession quickly changed over and a through ball played into the path of their striker, just inside and wide right of the box saw us in trouble.

The striker still had plenty of work to do, but finished with real aplomb and her low drive struck the inside of the far post, but rather than come back out like ours, the ball nestled into the back of the next and we were 1-0 down.

I still thought it was anybody’s game at this point and we pushed forward for an equaliser with plenty of decent attacks, which included another penalty claim when Beth Liles was bundled over in the penalty area. I really felt Kenysham couldn’t have argued if either were given and we came away bitterly disappointed to get neither.

Sophie also turned a half-chance into a good effort when she flashed a strike just wide of the post, which the majority of us all thought was heading in. But while the momentum was growing for us, a moment of madness and later fortune, saw the visitors double their lead.

A ball into the box was punched clear by Claire Farrow, but a deft chip from one of the Keynsham players had her beaten and Melanie Bidewell scrambled back in an attempt to clear the ball, but clearly handled it before it crossed the line and went in.

Despite the referee’s assistant flagging for a clear handball on the line, the referee decided to overrule and awarded the goal. As a consequence, Melanie could consider herself extremely lucky to have get away with just a yellow card and we went into the break two goals down.

We still felt we had a chance to get back into the game, but we needed to score the next goal. In the second-half, we wanted to get at them again and apply pressure, but we conceded two sloppy goals and the game was over, despite creating plenty of dangerous moments that we failed to capitalise on.

We also looked a little bit tired as the game wore on, which was a shame, but some of the players are still short of minutes on the pitch and it showed as we went through the motions for periods during the second-half.

Kenysham could have added to their lead when we were leg wary, but that would have been unfair in the context of the match. We still had Claire to thank for one or two excellent saves in near point blank or one-on-one situations though.

Then, with five minutes from time, Sophie picked up a serious knee injury when attempting to clear a ball completely unchallenged, which was the result of the blades from her boot’s standing leg getting caught in the turf. Both sets of players rushed to her aid in visible distress and after 20-30 minutes of treatment and ambulance attention, the referee decided to call a halt to proceedings with the result standing. Kenysham themselves were no strangers to injury and had two players retire from the match with their arms in slings.

Reflecting on the match, I was pleased with many elements of our first-half performance, but what we lacked was a little bit of fitness and time on the pitch together as well as the composure needed in the final third to make the right decision to unlock the opposition’s defence and give us the best chance of scoring.

Had we got at least one of those penalty decisions, it may have been a very different outcome or inspired us to really go after getting a result or something from the game. In the end we lost to a good side, who have plenty of decent players including some international players and we never looked out of place at all. Their finishing was also superior on the day and the strikers deserve credit for the way they took their chances when they came.

We also need to do some work on our defensive positioning, because we made life a little more difficult for ourselves than we needed to at times. It just boiled down to not picking the best positions to start from and to make the opposition play in the direction you want them to, but these are all issues that can be solved and ironed out.

So we were not far away here, despite the score and the players need to dust themselves down and get on with it. On this evidence, they can only grow stronger and player better and we still had several players out of action, due to injuries and who are not quite ready to return to the first-team yet. When they do, we’ll be in a much healthier state in terms of strength in depth.

I’m really gutted for Sophie, but she’s young enough to make a full recovery and we have our fingers and toes crossed for her for when she has her scans. It’s important that she has the support of her friends and family as well as her teammates and that she remains disciplined for any rehabilitation work she needs to carry out before returning. She’s a sensational player and this won’t stop her from reaching the dizzy heights she’s capable of achieving.

As for the rest of the players, I was pleased to see Elly Maggs continuing her comeback from a serious knee injury last season and I was impressed with Beth Liles’ tactical awareness on the pitch too. Then we have the likes of Vanessa Nicholson and Hayley Blake who were both playing Third team football last season and have been thrown in at the deep end to cover for some of our other absences. The experience they’re gaining from this will only help develop them further as players, so there’s still a lot to be pleased and positive about.

Team: Claire Farrow, Sarah Walters, Hayley Blake, Melanie Bidewell, Tammy Scrivens, Vanessa Nicholson (Natalie), Beth Liles, Simone Dwyer, Elly Maggs, Beth Curtis & Sophie Fogarty

Subs: Becky (GK) and Natalie

It’s a great achievement and is a great reward for all the hard work that goes into the programme’s produced on match day. At the level the Ladies compete at, the home team must produce a programme and despite such limited resources and funding, a lot of voluntary effort and personal cost from those involved has gone in to creating something really worthwhile and of interest for the games.

I’ve generally provided all the photography for the programme, which is why I get a little mention too.

It’s nice to see the club recognising the achievement here too:
http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2073927,00.html

Okay we have a threadbare squad at the moment and had to call up players not only from the Reserves, but from the Third team too. But we still expected a better performance and a positive result – we ended up with neither.

We were sloppy and poor all over the park and a lot of the players didn’t have their usual zip about them. I talk a lot about desire and enthusiasm and the really top players have this in abundance and maintain their hunger for the game from the first kick of the season until the last.

For players like Simone Dwyer, it doesn’t matter what happens in between, or whether we’re going for titles or cups, or fighting against relegation or playing a meaningless mid-table game or even a friendly. She always gives 100% no matter what and some of her team-mates could have taken a leaf out of her book here.

The reality of the situation is since we’ve secured our Premiership status and won the FA Senior Middlesex County Cup, a lot of players have disappointingly taken their foot off the gas and let their standards drop.

Both teams did actually create enough chances to add to the scoreline, but our finishing wasn’t good enough and we really should have come away with a point at the very least, even if our general play may have given us what we deserved. Palace though could and should have added to their solitary goal too.

I was surprised at how poorly we passed the ball. There was a lot of kick and rush and just aimlessly punting the ball in a general direction and hoping something would come of it, yet we’ve got the players and the ability to keep the ball on the deck and move it around.

We are much better than resorting to percentage play, but that’s what we ended up doing and it was our downfall. It wasn’t good enough for us to unlock the door and we struggled to deal with the same style of play defensively.

You just wonder sometimes why on some occasions, we don’t recognise what’s going on ourselves within the game and what to do to change it. It can be hard to get the message across or make the players see what looks so obviously wrong when they’re pent up with frustration at how things are panning out.

It was a really bad day at the office and next season we’ve got to work hard on our pattern play and understand that when we’re playing teams that we’ve got to pry open and do all the intricate creative work, we need to show a lot more discipline, patience and nous than we have done this season.

We’ve lost too many times against teams we shouldn’t have and in this match and in recent weeks, we’ve looked a little short of gas in the tank too. All these things have remedies and it’s up to the players to put in the graft to ensure their levels are more consistent and that will allow them to flourish for longer.

Having said all of that, the players have done well this season under trying circumstances and have still come away with silverware. So that shows that there is a deep resolve and character within the squad, but the same core players can’t keep carrying the team every week because if they are not up to scratch or missing for whatever reason – then the cracks can start to show.

It’s important we look to end the season on a high and that we go all out to play to the level and ability that we know we’re capable of with the remaining two games. Sometimes some players need to believe in themselves a little bit more, because there’s an awful lot of good talent and enthusiasm here and we can certainly play when we really want to.

The challenge now is to put the recent defeats to Charlton and Crystal Palace to one side and see if we can be the party poopers against Barnet Ladies on Thursday – a team looking to clinch promotion if they can get a result, yet one we beat convincingly to deny them a six successive cup on the win.

If we can do it against a side of that quality – we can do it to anybody in the division.

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!

After the midweek highs from winning the Middlesex County FA Senior Cup against Barnet, we came crashing back down to Earth here as the Ladies lost in a drab affair against Charlton Ladies.

The game lacked any genuine quality and both sides didn’t have the finesse or the cutting edge to take control on the day.

Instead, it was a bitty affair and it was sort of like an all legs and arms type of performance from us, with so many players not ever really looking like they were in control of themselves, let alone the ball.

The overall quality of passing from both sides was quite poor and there were plenty of misplaced passes, passes with too much or too little weight applied, hit and hope balls and generally poor decision making that meant the match got stuck in first gear and never really got going.

For us, our shape was a bit rigid and we didn’t spread quickly enough when we had possession of the ball. When you play against a side that’s set up in a 4-5-1 defensive formation and only looking for the counter attack, you’ve got to try and stretch them out and pull them out of position, but we didn’t really do that.

Instead, we lacked patience and rather than play the ball side to side, and with tempo, we often hurried and looked to hit direct or into a congested area, only to lose so many 50-50 challenges and second balls. It was playing right into Charlton’s strength’s really.

The shape caused us problems too and we played with far too many narrow passing angles, which also made us choose the wrong ball when something wasn’t on and we lacked someone taking responsibility and the game by the scruff of the neck. We could have done with anybody just directing players a little more and working out and adapting to the problems that we were facing out there.

The pitch wasn’t great either and it didn’t help both teams, but we’ve played on some pretty dire surfaces before and still played our football the right way. It just didn’t go for us here though and from really early on you could tell the game would hinge on one chance, probably from a mistake and whoever took it would go on to win.

And it was Charlton who got the points. A through ball aimlessly went through to the opposition keeper who cleared with a direct punt upfield that we allowed to bounce more than once, before being caught out by the Addicks’ lone forward who duly tucked it away.

Despite it being a disappointing match and a disappointing performance, there was some good news and that was the return of Elly Maggs. She started the season in splendid form, but picked up a serious knee injury that required surgery and she’s been through a long rehabilitation period before returning to action as a substitute.

Her quality was immediately obvious and it’s a big boost for the side to have her back in the fold.

Sophie Fogarty also had an excellent first-half, where she showed she is developing the mettle and mental resolve to really compete at this level. She was a constant threat and thorn in the Charlton side and had the beating of her marker, despite a strong and physical approach against her but was never afraid to get stuck in and put herself about either. I’m really excited to see what she can do next season, now that she’s got some experience under her belt.

As for us, despite having so many players out for various reasons, mainly injuries, we’ve still got a lot to play for and can finish the season strongly. Charlton’s win confined Crystal Palace and Fulham to relegation and that means we’re safe with still a few games to go. The players deserve credit for achieving safety at the first attempt and having had a good look at the division, there’s no reason why we can’t improve and be challenging at the top end next season.

A brace from Rebecca Kane and a Charlotte Young penalty secured the win and it’s a superb achievement considering Barnet had won this competition for the past 5 years!

Well done to the ladies indeed!

The first-team have only played four times since the turn of the year, which is a result of all the weather problems over the winter period. And with such little time on the pitch together over those months, it’s not easy to click and gel back into place once the action resumes.

There were signs of those problems in this match too. It took us a long time to get going and the first touch of several of our players were found wanting and we struggled to get into any rhythm of play.

The pitch wasn’t ideal either, but we can’t make any excuses because Brighton played some excellent football in the opening 20 minutes and took the lead through a penalty. The decision seemed soft, but they were definitely on top by the time they scored.

But to our credit we grabbed an equaliser, albeit against the run of play at the time, but that allowed us to easy our way back into the match. Sophie Fogarty had the ball wide out on the left and her cross was blocked and the ball deflected back out to her where she hit the most stunning of volley’s, all from 30 yards and it flew across the keeper and high into the corner of the net – a quite marvellous and instinctive strike!

And from there we battled really well and gave Brighton plenty to think about and had we had a little more care with our approach play, which was just a bit too much kick and rush for my liking, we may well have profited and taken more from the game.

But the players deserve credit, that’s three on the bounce without defeat and a decent enough performance against a good Brighton side. On another day either team may have taken all three points, but I thought we were brave defensively and Simone Dwyer and several others won many important headers to keep them out.

We did have to rely on Kayce Garcia to pull off an outstanding save from a long-range effort in the second-half too, but overall I thought a point was fair and the right result.

There were also many new players in the side and some of them impressed me with their technical abilities and foot work, so there’s plenty to work with and they have a good challenge now to go on and try to climb up that table and finish the season as high as possible. There’s a lot of games coming up in a short space of time, so it’s the perfect moment to build some momentum and really give it a good go.

And let’s not forget young Sophie, who is still in her first year at adult level and is starting to realise that she has what it takes. She’s always had the ability and potential, but every time I see her I can tell her confidence and maturity is growing and I’ve not seen anybody as exciting in a long time. She’s going to be some player, that’s for sure and if she keeps progressing she’s got every chance of going all the way to the very top.

We started like a team who’d never met each other before, let alone played together. But who can blame the players when the last time they played competitive football was way back in November before the weather crisis struck?

It’s taken that long to get them back on the pitch due to the freezing conditions and this cup-tie almost fell to the same fate, but for a last minute switch of pitch and plenty of puddle sweeping from yours truly we managed to ensure the game went ahead.

It was an odd opening and I really thought we were going to be in for a very long afternoon, but both teams started in a kamikaze fashion, going hell for leather and pinging simple balls over the top or threading them through for the strikers to chase.

It was bog standard stuff in the bog and for some reason, both sets of defences were guilty of being far too high up the pitch and leaving acres of space in behind.

This made the ball straight over the top an easy one and in the early exchanges, LNER had the better of these moments and made their early pressure count by taking the lead, albeit from a corner that wasn’t defended well.

When football is played like that, it leads to dangerous situations and golden opportunities for those who can seize on the moment. But it also requires some intelligence and understanding of what is happening. It’s just as easy to be stupidly caught offside when you shouldn’t be, and that happened to both teams.

But eventually we got in and Kaisha Petit beat the offside trap and coolly slotted home the equaliser. It was ever so slightly against the run of play at that point, but once we got the goal it settled us down and you could sense the players were starting to work out the problems they were facing and how to solve them.

And to their credit, they took complete control of the game and for long periods, played some very good football. We countered excellently when the opportunity arose and we had great success down either flank. But what impressed me most was how well we controlled the tempo and our decision making when picking out key passes to ensure we didn’t get caught offside.

We were 5-1 by half-time and had put them out of sight, which allowed us to continue playing our football in the second before eventually running out 13:3 winners and booking a place in the Quarter Finals of the Middlesex Cup.

A brief lapse in the second-half did see them score two goals in quick succession, but the result was never in any doubt and there was no danger of them getting back into it. And fair play to them, they kept battling and I thought their performance deserved their goals.

I did like their midfielder who was outstanding from start to finish, and I liked their strikers too, who were a handful when playing in those conditions. But we just had too much quality across the board and up front we had a striking duo that were just too hot to handle. Kaisha ended up bagging seven goals and Norwegian debutant Sina Harum netted a fine hat-trick too.

Yasmin Bamford scored a stunning strike from around the half-way line and Lydia Amarquaye and Kesleigh Danielle Long also got on the scoresheet too, of which their performances also deserved.

All in all, while there is a lot of room for improvement, particularly in getting match sharp again, this was a very pleasing result and an encouraging performance in the end and the players deserve a lot of praise for getting the job done in such fashion.