Ladies also equalise late for point

A new weekend and a new opposition for Wellington Ladies as they visited Banwell Ladies, a team the Tangerines had yet to play in the league.

The match was delayed by 30 minutes as the home side’s pitch had no lines prior to kick off and a valiant effort was made to ensure the lines were marked up and the game could go ahead.

Unlike previous weeks, Wellington were slow out of the blocks and gave Banwell a few opportunities early on, but excellent reactions from keeper Hannah Worth kept the score level.

Wellington began to create chances of their own as the half went on however most efforts swung wide. An unfortunate hamstring injury for Jess Kerslake left the visitors with limited options for their midfield as unfortunate last minute absences gave head coach Anthony Trimm a small tactical headache.

This injury led to player-manager Nyima Touray stepping up out of defence and into a more unfamiliar position in the centre of midfield as the teams went into half-time level.

The second half was more active at both ends, notably when Nyima went for a fantastic solo run down the right wing, passing three Banwell defenders before attempting to find striker Ash Grabham-White.

The effort was unfortunately swept up by the remaining defenders but this run was a sign of things to come from the visiting side.

With the second half coming to an end, and with both sides creating chance after chance, it seemed that the day was going to end goalless but a fortunate bounce through the Wellington defence gave Banwell the chance they needed to slot home the chance and take the lead.

After the late goal, it seemed the match was going to be a repeat of last week for the Tangerines.

That is until Maddie Booker broke free from the pack with the ball at her feet, carrying it from the Wellington box into the Banwell half, then finding the perfect pass to Ash who carried it the rest of the way and struck the ball.

It was parried away by the Banwell keeper but Julie Netherway was in the right place at the right time after an excellent supporting run to tap in the equaliser. The remaining minutes were full-on consistent attacks by the visitors but there was nothing left to take from the long afternoon.

Wellington left everything on the pitch this week and left Banwell with a well deserved point.

They hope that this is now the turn of their fortunes and look ahead to hosting Bishops Lydeard Reserves on February 19th.

Players of the Match – Hannah Worth and Maddie Booker.