WBA Women 1-2 Coventry City Ladies By Tim Kalns
Coventry City Ladies warmed up for their home FA Cup Third Round tie with Wolves next Sunday with a victory at West Bromwich Albion.
A late switching of this game to Tipton saw Stuart Wilson's side quickly settle with Mel Byrne firing a left foot shot wide of the far post in the 2nd minute, then just failing to get a touch to Kelly-Ann Willis's low drive that squeezed just inches wide.
After 20 minutes though, City were forced to make an early change when Ali Forbes dislocated a shoulder and was replaced by Kelly Henson with Emma Lipman dropping back into central defence, only for Lipman to pick up an ankle injury just minutes later that saw her too replaced by Helen Dermody.
City's reshuffled pack started to come under increasing pressure as the half wore on and it was no surprise when Albion eventually took the lead following a succession of corners and free kicks.
The game was five minutes into time added on when Nicky Pearson swung over a free kick from just outside the box which City failed to clear, and when the ball broke loose on the right Erin Hicken smashed the ball in from a tight angle.
The Sky Blues needed just two minutes after the break to get back on level terms. Striker Mel Byrne finished a good move from fifteen yards with a left footed shot.
In an evenly contested second half it always seemed likely the next goal would settle matters and so it proved, Mel Byrne stooping to nod home Kelly-Ann Willis's dipping cross from close range in the 84th minute.
West Brom had their chances, Hayley Moore having a shot deflected onto the bar on the hour and Philipowsky having a goal ruled out for offside, but in the end the Sky Blues just about deserved the win.
Manager Stuart Wilson was very pleased with the effort of his side,
“We didn't have to say a lot at half time. It's never nice to concede a goal with the last kick of the half, and the loss of two key players early on meant the mood in the dressing room was pretty subdued.
But there's no point feeling sorry for yourselves, we asked them what they were going to do about it and then left them to work it out for themselves. They deserve a lot of credit for the way they applied themselves in a game in which they had to work so hard for everything they got.”
Stuart praised his makeshift centre backs for so effectively snuffing out the pacy Albion attack, and Mel Byrne for delivering the goods once again at the other end; but reserved special mention for substitutes Kelly Henson, Helen Dermody and Natalie Brace.
“Hen and ‘H' were terrific….we had to throw them in at the deep end to replace our midfield and Lefty came on to bolster things as we tired…. they all coped very well”
Team: K Williamson, N Wilcox, J Lowe, M Cartwright, N Lynch, A Forbes (Henson 20), K Robson (Brace 76), Lipman (Dermody 24), M Byrne, S Wade, KA Willis snu S Marshall, L Whitehouse