Last weekend saw me get to a game that I had wanted to for a while, but when I take up most Saturdays with 90 minutes, something has to give somewhere. The only other women’s game I’ve seen this season was a big one, a sell-out Wembley Stadium for the Lionesses win over the USA, this time around was FA Cup action for Worthing Women, taking on Sutton Utd Women.
Like their male counterpart’s prize money is on offer as well and below the relative riches of the Women’s Super League every penny is vital and with momentum firmly in the favour of the female game currently it’s a great time to get people onboard.
A crisp sunny afternoon awaited us despite some coldness sitting in the shade, taking advantage of sitting in the main stand at the Crucial Environmental Stadium instead a usual terrace spot on the far side.
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Worthing from the off looked to be intent on getting the ball down to play and attacking with very opportunity they could, pinning the Sutton team back in their own half and when they did lose the ball it was recovered and went back towards the Sutton penalty area very quickly.
It took until the 19th minute for the home side to take the lead through Sophie Humphrey, the ball creeping in at the near post for the opening goal. Much was the dominance of Worthing there was a worry that they would head into half time with just a single goal lead and come to rue missed chances in the second half.
But the final nine minutes of the half, the tie really came alive. Ellie Russell added the second goal on 36 minutes, heading home a corner after finding herself unmarked in the box. Five minutes later Rebecca Bell scored the third goal shooting across the keeper into the far corner to leave Sutton reeling in the space of a few minutes.
It got worse for the visitors just a couple of minutes later, a strong run from Ella Newman into the box and the winger struck her shot past the keeper for Worthing’s fourth of the game. The same player wrapped up the first half scoring direct from a corner in stoppage time to effectively kill the game off for Sutton, needing a scoring miracle after half time when they had hardly managed to get out of their own half through the first 45 minutes.
The visitors to their credit did come out and attack with more purpose and had a great chance to pull one back on the hour mark but blazed over the bar from a corner. A couple of further chances did come their way, but some poor finishing let them down or the scoreline could have looked a lot more different and given Worthing something to think about.
There was more of a lull through the first part of the second half with the home side very comfortable with their lead and the visitors, although working hard to get a foothold back into the game couldn’t get enough going.
14 minutes from time Bell added her second and the sixth for the home side after a strong run and finish from mid-way inside the visitor’s half. Sutton had another good chance to get a goal back, but the ball ending up the wrong side of the far post.
The best goal of the game arrived nine minutes from time, Georgia Tibble with a superb lob over the keeper from 20 yards out having set herself perfectly to take on the shot.
Tibble then scored the final goal of the game in the 86th minute, a short corner from Newman found her on the edge of the box and she strode forward to fire the ball through the crowd of players and into the back of the net for a very comprehensive 8-0 win for the home side and a place in the 2nd round.
A crowd of 115 was there to enjoy the goal fest, an impressive win for the hosts and some prize money into the club coffers too. Plenty of chances came their way too and the scoreline could have been into double figures, hopefully opportunity extends itself to pop along again later in the season to watch some more action.
