Somerset County Women’s League division Wells City Ladies 5, Wellington Wildcats Ladies 0
Wildcats travelled to third-placed Wells City with only 11 players, and a couple of those were struggling with injuries, so they knew they would be in for a tough afternoon.
Wildcats more than held their own through the opening exchanges, having a few attempts to play the ball into the box and have a couple of half-chances.
However, their cause was not helped after ten minutes when keeper Bianca Hamlyn suffered a knee injury after claiming the ball from the feet of a Wells striker – with the home player lucky to escape without a booking.
Soon after, and against the run of play, Wells capitalised on a loose pass in the Wildcats defence to break the deadlock and followed this up with a second almost immediately after an uncharacteristic error from Hamlyn.
Despite being two down, Wildcats continued pushing the ball out to wide players Leah Morrell and Imogen Edmondston-Low who battled well all game.
In the middle of the park Georgia Purdy and Emily Ayers controlled the ball well, allowing Ebony Sellick and Keeley Coates to move into more attacking positions. Towards the end of the half, Morrell was brought down on the edge of the Wells’ box, but the free kick sailed high and wide as the referee blew for half-time.
After the break, Wildcats continued to push down both flanks and created several good opportunities but they were never able to test the home keeper.
The closest they came was a long range drive from Purdy in the 59th minute while Coates pushed narrowly wide after a goalmouth scramble.
Wells grabbed an excellent third goal to effectively seal the win in the 66th minute.
With nothing to lose, Wildcats continued to push forward and, with Ebony Sellick battling for everything, it made for an uncomfortable final quarter for the Wells defence.
At times, Wells’ only release was long balls over the top for their strikers to chase, but superb defending from Tenika Goss, Naomi Southcott and notably Grace Winter kept them at bay.
With Wells having the luxury of regular substitutions, it was no surprise when fatigue finally took its toll on Wildcats, and they conceded two late goals in the 85th and 89th minutes to give a deserved but flattering victory to the hosts.
Wildcats’ player-of-the-day went to Ebony Sellick, who must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch.
Team: Bianca Hamlyn, Grace Winter (cpt), Tenika Goss, Naomi Southcott, Bryony Sellick, Georgia Purdy, Emily Ayers, Leah Morrell, Ebony Sellick, Imogen Edmondston-Low, Keeley Coates.
Wildcats are not in action again until their home game against runaway league leaders Yeovil Town on April 14th.
This will not only give some much needed recovery time for their injured players, but also hopefully enable them to recapture their early season form as they look to finish the season on a high.
Sixth place is still within their sights.
