You are here:
Football England > Women's match reports > Blackburn Ladies 3 Cardiff 1

Sunday November 12, 2006; Womens National Premier League

Blackburn Rovers Ladies 3 Cardiff City Ladies 1

Blackburn: K.Hawke, A.Bateman, N.Brewer, M.Cook, E.Gilliat, D.Campbell, J.Barnes (C.Dixon 83), J.Eadie, A.Bell, K.Anderton, S.McCrea (H.Forster 81).

Cardiff: R.Noakes, S.Cheedy, T.Beddows, N.Cousins (K.Isaac 60), R.Waghorn, C.Davies (D.Hinton 80), Charlotte Miller, M.Barrow, A.Lea (C.Parfitt 50), L.Dykes, G.Harries.

Firstly I must apologise to any players, especially on the Cardiff side, who I have got mixed up as I had to take the word of the man on the tannoy as to who was who and the remarkable difficulty he had in identifying the scorer of Blackburn's first goal leads me to think that he may not be a man to be trusted.

This was my first view of Cardiff City Ladies and I was naturally keen to see their goalscorer in chief, Gwennan Harries, in action and it was not long before she was making an impression.

Latching onto a hopeful ball forward on the edge of the box Harries turned sharply but was over the angle of post and bar with her shot.

Cardiff were surging forward in the early stages but a quick look at their strange formation made me feel they could be in line for a hiding.

Harries was the lone front runner, the midfield was packed with bodies everywhere and it was impossible to determine how many out and out defenders had been selected.

At times it seemed as though only Sian Cheedy and Terri Beddows were designated defenders and the bulky Beddows could scarcely be imagined to have the pace to cover the vast areas of field all around her.

At first this wasn't exposed as the visitors kept the home side penned in their own half. This was not done by any passing movements through the well populated midfield but through a series of long balls upfield which Harries chased willingly.

Ruth Waghorn got forward down the right to win Cardiff a 4th minute corner and when Harries' pacy ball in dropped nicely for Claire Davies she sent in a strong drive which was heading for the net without the aid of the slight deflection which it received on its way past Kay Hawke.

This goal probably coaxed the visitors into being less adventurous which was a grave mistake as they certainly did not appear to have the defence to protect a lead.

It is likely that Blackburn, with their much more compact and organised formation, must have gained control sooner rather than later, however, for although Cardiff had flooded the midfield they never looked to play through that area and insisted in launching hopeful balls upfield for Harries to chase.

As these balls became more infrequent and the forward became more and more isolated Blackburn assumed complete control.

Ellie Gilliat clipped a lovely looking ball forward for Sarah McCrea but there was just too much pace on it for the winger before Andrea Bell sent Katie Anderton in on goal with a fine pass on the other flank. From the angle Anderton was unable to beat the alert Rhian Noakes.

Then Anderton was denied by a highly suspicious offside flag when she headed in with Beddows appearing to run up to play her offside after the ball had already been played.

This epitomised the confused state of the Cardiff defence and soon afterwards Gilliat's sweet left foot was again slicing open the visitors' right hand side to set McCrea away to win a corner.

McCrea sent over the corner herself and Jessica Barnes arrived somehow alone in the crowd to head home from close range.

Beddows and Cheedy were still receiving precious little assistance and when Anderton turned Beddows to offer Bell the chance to outpace Cheedy Rovers were again in on Noakes.

Again the Cardiff keeper responded in style making a good stop from Bell's driven attempt.

Goals looked on the cards whenever Blackburn ventured forward as any semblance of shape disappeared from the Cardiff side and after several near misses Jayne Eadie went rampaging through the remnants of the Cardiff defence only to be thwarted by another fine Noakes save.

Andrea Bell was next to threaten with a cracking ball in from the right which was somehow smuggled behind for a corner and from McCrea's inswinger Barnes was almost on the scoresheet again with a header just wide.

The dam had to burst at some point, however, and on 20 minutes Blackburn went ahead.

Katie Anderton did the spadework skipping inside Cheedy before setting up Eadie who gave Noakes no chance whatsoever this time with a sweet finish.

Cardiff finally looked to sort out their defensive problems by moving Beddows to left back and this move did improve matters.

There was no sign of the visitors being able to supply Harries, however. Whenever they gained midfield possession it was a case of instantly looking for the killer through ball but the quality was lacking and with Harries generally up against the entire back four it was no wonder the striker was already looking frustrated.

There was almost carnage when the linesman all but demolished the away dug out with a wayward pass intended for a throw in taker but fortunately the incident passed without casualties.

Blackburn were boasting two sweet left foots in Gilliat and McCrea and both created chances in quick succession.

Gilliat raced forward to ping in a great centre which both Anderton and Bell somehow failed to meet and then McCrea embarrassed Beddows with a fine through ball which Anderton could only drag wide when clear.

Cardiff's best moves were also coming along that side of the pitch where Ruth Waghorn was looking by far and away their most accomplished player.

Waghorn linked cleverly with Loren Dykes but when she centred there was only Harries in the box and the Rovers defence were able to clear the danger.

Waghorn's confidence on the ball was apparent and she alone in the Cardiff side was looking to hit a target rather than a space with her passes but in the main she was having to look after McCrea operating as she was in some sort of wing back position as Blackburn continued to dominate.

It would have seemed more sensible to have taken one of the numerous anonymous midfielders out of the centre and asked them to do a job at right back while allowing Waghorn more freedom to operate in advanced areas.

Waghorn offered Harries her best chance of reaching a pass since the first few minutes but the pacy forward was not quite able to collect on the edge of the box.

With Blackburn finding it harder to breach the re-organised Cardiff back line the game became increasingly scrappy and was not helped in this respect by an officious referee who was clearly intent penalising the most innocuous of challenges.

Typically this was only the case while the ball was outside the penalty area, however.

Rovers were granted a free kick from which Eadie smacked an effort against the bar and when the ball dropped towards Natalie Brewer inside the area Beddows ploughed right through the Rovers player without ever getting anywhere near the ball.

This was as blatant a penalty as you could wish to see but the whistle happy ref decided against blowing.

Had it been in the midfield he would not have hesitated as proven seconds later when he awarded Blackburn what I suppose was intended as a consolation free kick for a nothing challenge in the centre circle.

Referees, eh?

Nicola Cousins suddenly lost herself in a red mist and after getting away scott free with a nasty challenge on Eadie she got herself a booking minutes later after taking out Sarah McCrea.

Half Time: Blackburn Rovers Ladies 2 Cardiff City Ladies 1

The dangerous Katie Anderton was quickly causing problems after half time with a strong run along the left hand byeline but Noakes was able to block her shot at the near post.

Harries and Davies combined to win the visitors a rare corner but they were unable to profit and it remained Blackburn carrying by far the greater threat.

Cheedy made a good challenge to rob Anderton in a danderous situation and then Cardiff got lucky when Bell was penalised for a foul on Beddows when it looked as though she had simply been too strong for the defender inside the area.

The home side would not feel aggreived for long, however, as soon afterwards Anderton latched on to a huge kick downfield from Kay Hawke and scored with a measured lob over the advancing Noakes who had once again been offered no protection by her defence.

Harries managed a header from a Loren Dykes centre but Hawke was not extended in the Blackburn goal as the visitors struggled to make any attacking impact.

Although Harries was getting little service and even less support it was now obvious that she would have been better served coming towards the ball in search of possession rather than continuing with her runs in behind the Blackburn defence where the ball never actually arrived.

When Harries was found it was also clear that she had a capable opponent in Mel Cook who looked a pacy and diligent defender.

Anisha Bateman took the opportunity to surge forward and was inches away from putting Anderton through on goal again with her pass.

Harries finally managed to get the better of Cook following a punt forward by Noakes but Kay Hawke was alert to the danger and nipped outside her box to head clear.

The pressure was still focussed on Rhian Noakes, however, and she continued to acquit herself well.

She saved well from Brewer after Anderton's lay off and came to punch then catch successive corners as Blackburn's pressure continued.

Beddows had stood up well to some severe pressure since switching to left back but was again fortunate not to give away a penalty when clearly tugging back Andrea Bell when the forward was about to escape.

Anderton turned smartly at a throw in to send in a snap shot but the effort flew wide and in a similar move at the other end Harries was sharp inside the box but saw Hawke claim her effort smartly at the near post.

Beddows ventured forward for a free kick and managed a neat header down towards Harries but the striker produced an air shot and when Blackburn cleared Anderton found herself through on goal again only to fire over the bar.

Ellie Gilliat had been a bundle of energy down the left for Rovers and she went on a searching run before putting her cultured left foot to more good use but Cheedy was able to nick the ball away from Anderton with a lunging interception.

The game got bogged down as both sides began making regular changes towards the end and none of the replacements were able to make a telling impact.

Caroline Dixon had spent half time amazing everyone present with the quality of her long range shooting but was wholly unable to get into the game when introduced by Blackburn.

Although none of Cardiff's subs did anything special they did at least get involved in some decent passing moves through the midfield, an area the visitors had hitherto ignored.

Waghorn reminded the crowd of her ability with a determined run to the byeline which gave Carla Parfitt a shooting chance but the save forced from Hawke was of the routine variety.

Loren Dykes also made a fine crossfield burst which gave Kelly Isaac the chance to feed Harries but Hawke was out quickly and bravely to snuff out the danger.

In response Bell got along the goalline to supply Hannah Forster but her goalbound shot was blocked by the defence.

The last action saw Hawke repeating her plunge at the feet of Harries and Gilliat being harshly booked for her part in a tussle along the touchline.

This had been an entertaining, if somewhat strange, game of football which had certainly brought the right result.

While Blackburn look capable of remaining clear of relegation worries Cardiff could get dragged into trouble on this showing.

Full Time: Blackburn Ladies 3 Cardiff City Ladies 1

Star Player: Ellie Gilliat

Blackburn's left back showed consistent quality in her passing and crossing but it was her sheer energy and enthusiasm which really caught the eye.
Gilliat was always looking to take the game to the opposition and her tussle with Ruth Waghorn was the highest quality confrontation on the park.