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Sunday March 9, 2008; Womens National Premier League. Birmingham City Ladies 3 Doncaster Rovers Belles 3 Birmingham: S.Wood, F.Cardin, J.Buttler, S.Samuels, K.Ward, K.Harrop, L.Bassett, H.Scheuber, B.Hall, M.Gauntlett, D.Bird. Doncaster: C.Collie, N.Hughes, A.Turner, V.Stevens (V.Leat 83), C.Utley, E.Thomson, V.Cantoro (E.Johnson 59), V.Exley, C.Cantrell, L.Hansen, P.Hamilton. This was my first visit to Redditch United FC, the home of Birmingham City Ladies, and let me straight away mention the excellent stadium. Highly distinctive and with a definite character of it's own this was an impressive ground from the first sighting of the quality entrance gates with "RUFC" welded across them. The playing area is vast, there is an impressive structure down one side from which the players emerge, there is a small scaffolded stand behind one goal, which is still quality, while the terracing that sweeps across the other two sides is raised above pitch level giving a cracking view. Forget Wembley, this is the venue I would choose for the Cardiff City against Barnsley FA Cup semi final. What I really wanted on a slightly damp and depressing day was a game to match the surroundings and I wasn't disappointed. After a hesistant opening couple of minutes it was the visiting Doncaster Belles who began to assume control and pretty soon they had gained a real grip in midfield where Precious Hamilton, against her former club, was highly prominent. Jemma Buttler had to clear behind her own goal with some haste to deny Liz Hansen a chance and when the corner came across Vikki Stevens found herself with a decent chance but completely scuffed her shot. The Belles quickly gained another corner, however, and Birmingham were lucky that the ball dropped straight to goalkeeper Sue Wood when it could just as easily have fallen for any one of a cluster of attackers having bounced across goal off an unsuspecting defender. Hamilton demonstrated her growing influence with a good run through midfield which ended with a neat ball into Hansen but her shot was straight at Wood from the edge of the box. Birmingham were unable to put any real moves together at this stage but were offered hope by Heather Scheuber's ability to play dangerous balls in behind the Doncaster defence. On two occasions such passes created danger but Caroline Collie was alert behind her defence and came out of her box to boot clear in the nick of time. There was also fleeting danger to the visitors when Amy Turner was caught in possession just outside her own box by Maz Gauntlett but the defender redeemed herself with a fine recovery challenge. The better football was still coming from the Belles, however. Vicky Exley has at the heart of a flowing move which ended with Hamilton chesting down into the path of Carla Cantrell but the striker made a poor contact with the bouncing ball on the edge of the box. Dannii Bird showed good footwork out on the left for Birmingham before sending in a decent ball which Claire Utley intercepted at full stretch but the same defender then played her goalkeeper into trouble with an ill judged back pass that was superbly dealt with by Collie who calmly sidestepped an onrushing forward before launching the ball clean out of the ground. In their next attack Doncaster took the lead their football had merited although, as is so often the case, the goal was the result of a defensive error rather than brilliant football. There seemed little danger when the Belles sent a hopeful centre into the box but when Buttler went to control the ball on her chest she simply presented it to Hamilton totally unmarked around the penalty spot. The Belles midfielder made no mistake as she gratefully dispatched the gift into the bottom corner. The Belles continued to have the better of things and it was no real surprise when they doubled their lead with a splendid goal just before the half hour. Natasha Hughes started the move with a composed pass out of defence to Vikki Stevens who found Cantrell infield before speeding up the right wing to support the attack. Cantrell sent a lovely first time ball down the right for Hansen who made ground towards the corner flag before doubling back and finding the supporting Stevens, she wasted no time in whipping a superb centre across which picked out Cantrell unmarked and her header flashed into the bottom corner. Birmingham might wonder about the lack of marking but this goal really was an example of passing and movement at pace that could hardly have been bettered and was consequently extremely difficult to combat. There seemed little reason to expect a Birmingham fightback at this stage but, remarkably, they were quickly on terms with a couple of goals in as many minutes. The Belles were somewhat unfortunate in the manner of conceding the first of these goals. Kerys Harrop, who put herself about all afternoon without attracting the attention of the referee, went in dangerously on Utley but without conceding a free kick. The ball was kicked out so that Utley could receive attention and the centre half had to then leave the pitch before returning. Before she had the chance to regain her defensive position her side had conceded. The ball was lofted forward and suddenly two Birmingham attackers were bearing down on Collie. The Belles keeper came outside her area to try and clear the danger but, having knocked the ball away from Bird, she saw it fall straight to Gauntlett who rattled home into the unguarded net. Two minutes later Scheuber picked a perfect pass over the Belles defence to send Gauntlett racing away and the forward lobbed a precise finish beyond Collie as the keeper advanced. Doncaster would choose to play a very high defensive line throughout this game and it was difficult to see why. The Birmingham attack struggled to make much impression when forced to play through the Belles defence but the ball over the top into the spaces continually left in behind offered a constant source of encouragement. Victoria Cantoro, who struggled to make an impression and spent most of her time uttering Italian sounding oaths, worked a clever one two with Hamilton only to send in a woeful shot before Birmingham enjoyed a fortuitous escape. Faye Cardin moved across to challenge Hansen down the side of the box and comprehensively took out the Belles attacker. Hansen came to earth outside the area and the referee awarded a free kick but there was little doubt that the contact had been made inside the box. The half ended with Birmingham threatening again with another ball over the top but Utley covered well to deny Becky Hall who was almost through after a nice body swerve. The opening forty five minutes had been all action with plenty of good attacking football and much hesitant defending but it was hard to work out how the Belles were not in front. Half Time: Birmingham City Ladies 2 Doncaster Rovers Belles 2 The second half began with Birmingham putting together their first move of real quality with Heather Scheuber, inevitably, at the heart of it. Scheuber sent the overlapping Katy Ward scampering away only for a dubious offside flag to halt the emergency full back in her tracks. Doncaster then found their stride again to put the Birmingham goal under real pressure. Steph Samuels put her side in trouble with a dreadful mis-kick which gave Hansen a shooting chance inside the box but the strikers' poked effort provided Wood with an easy save. Hughes then came forward with purpose before releasing Stevens for another lovely first time centre which found Cantrell but her half volley was always rising over the crossbar. Shortly afterwards Stevens produced another good centre but Wood came out well to collect this one as the home side stayed hard pressed to remain on level terms. There was some relief for Birmingham as a free kick from deep dropped to Laura Bassett for a stinging drive that was not too far away but there was more danger at the other end when Emma Thomson moved forward from left back to send in an inviting centre that somehow escaped Stevens as she arrived unmarked at the far post. Jemma Buttler was also required to clear smartly when Hughes got forward to put in a dangerous ball from the right. Although Doncaster had continued to play the better football they no longer had the clear dominance in midfield that they had enjoyed earlier. Hamilton, who had started so brightly, was now only an occasional influence and Vicky Exley was beginning to fight a more isolated battle against Scheuber, Bassett and Harrop. There had been little warning that Birmingham might take the lead, however, but that is what they then did after an absurdly rash piece of defending by Amy Turner. Scheuber produced a silky touch to send Bird away and her low pass offered Harrop a shooting chance but the effort was deflected wide for a corner. The corner was overhit by some distance and the ball was running outside the area at the far side with Buttler trying to retrieve it when Turner inexplicably decided to challenge and sent her opponent crashing to the ground. The penalty was as blatant as it was needless and Bassett stepped forward to slam home the spot kick via the underside of Collie's left hand angle. Although Birmingham had been coming more into the game since half time it was still hard to fathom how they were actually leading. Minutes later they almost increased their lead when Bird sent in a fine corner which Harrop headed over when she might have done better. In Doncaster's next attack another fine goal had the game all square again at 3-3. The build up was sloppy from both sides, Birmingham allowing Hansen space to receive a throw in from Hughes around the corner of the box and the forward sending in a weak shot, but when the ball landed at the feet of Cantrell the in form striker reacted superbly by flicking the ball up and turning sharply to volley into the corner of the net from fifteen yards. The game began to get increasingly stretched and for the first time in the game Birmingham began to look the stronger side and the more likely scorers as the game entered its' last fifteen minutes. Bird combined with Gauntlett neatly as she cut inside from a wide position but was then stretching as she shot and the ball bobbled wide of the far post. Scheuber remained the player most likely to find a telling pass and again found the alarming space left behind the Belles defence to send Hall scampering away and her centre found Bird who could not hit the target with her shot. Then Laura Bassett presented Hall with a shooting chance but Collie got down sharply to save at her near post. The next danger came when Scheuber sent in a great free kick to the far post right onto the head of Harrop whose header back across goal seemed certain to provide a tap in for a colleague but ended up somehow escaping three blue shirts in front of goal. Doncaster came forward for an increasingly rare attack but Thomson's low drive from 25 yards was capably handled by Wood before the game ended in controversial circumstances at the other end. Once again the Belles were caught out trying to defend high up the pitch and Collie had to come beyond her box to clear the danger. This time it was touch and go whether she would get there ahead of Gauntlett and the keeper ended up having to challenge the onrushing forward. Collie seemed to play the ball first before inevitably making contact with the forward but the referee deemed the tackle a foul which gave him a decision to make regarding the colour of the card shown. The ref decided to be lenient and show yellow allowing Collie to remain on to face the free kick. Dannii Bird stepped forward to smash a magnificent shot against the underside of the bar from the right hand corner of the area and it looked odds on a goal as Samuels moved in for the kill with the ball bouncing in front of goal two yards out. Samuels got there and headed goalwards but Collie instinctively threw out a hand and somehow deflected the ball to safety and ensure her side ended the game with a point. There is no doubt that Birmingham finished this excellent game the stronger but it would have been extremely tough on Doncaster overall if they had returned home with nothing to show for their performance. Perhaps, in the end, a draw was the fairest result. Full Time: Birmingham City Ladies 3 Doncaster Rovers Belles 3 Star Player: Heather Scheuber Carla Cantrell had a fair claim to this award and was the focal point for a fine attacking team display by the Belles but Scheuber was perhaps the games' best individual.
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