St Ives Town Ladies 2-3 Notts County Women (Friendly) 25.07.21

Adam Dunleavey took his East Midlands Regional Women’s Premier League side, Notts County Women, to St. Ives, for their first, pre-season friendly, on Sunday afternoon, the Pies enjoying their time in the Westwood Road sun to come from two down, to snatch a win.

Opponents, St. Ives Town Ladies, who reside in the East Regional Women’s Football League Premier Division, raced into an early, two-goal lead, Katie Stancombe opening the scoring within ten minutes with a long-range effort.

Minutes later, and that one soon became two, this time Sasha Smith gets in on the act as her cross from the right somehow finds itself nestling nicely in the bottom left-hand corner of County’s goal, this being a game split into three-thirds (as opposed to the usual, two halves).

After suffering that double, early set-back, County regrouped, and found a way back into the game just past the half hour mark, and early in the second third, after Jess Travers breaks with the ball and puts in a timely cross for Nya Chambers, she finding the back of the hosts’ net and, all of a sudden, it’s game on for the Pies.

It would not be until the final third, the last twenty minutes of the contest, in which County would fully turn the game around, adding two further goals late on.

The equaliser landed through a high, long-range effort via Lashea Francis, the goal-bound shot lobbing over the home ‘keeper and into the back of the net.

With the game edging towards its close, and with County now in the ascendency, Charlotte Taylor breaks from the back, they having successfully defended a corner, and feeds it to Chambers, she gratefully taking the pass and, when one-on-one with the home ‘keeper, calmly fires home her second, and County’s third, to make the score 3-2, and with it, a come-from-behind victory.

Now, with that first pre-season success under their belts, remaining friendlies will see them entertain first Loughborough Lightning Development on 1 August, then Kings Lynn Town Ladies a week later, on 8 August; a final, in-house friendly with their Development side, is pencilled in for that of 15 August, however, that is dependent on the outcome of the draw for the FA Cup.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @mrgaryreed action from the clash with St Ives as Notts win a five goal thriller.