Coventry City Ladies 1-0 Rushden and Diamonds
FA Women's Cup (2nd Round Proper)
12th November 2006
Christine Wheeler reports
A stunning second half strike by Mel Byrne has put Coventry City Ladies into the draw for the third round of the Women's FA Cup after a 1-0 victory over Rushden and Diamonds at Westwood Heath.
The match was even throughout with it looking likely that just one goal would take the victory. Rushden should have taken the lead after 24 minutes when Anna McLeod was left with an empty net to shoot into from 8 yards, but she blasted the ball high over the bar. The opposition did finally get the ball in the goal 12 minutes later, but it was disallowed for a foul on a Coventry defender.
The breakthrough finally came through striker Byrne on 74 minutes with a beautifully curled left foot shot, from just inside the area, which sailed into the top left hand corner.
Coventry were without recognised right back Natalie Wilcox due to an Achilles injury, which will keep her on the sidelines for at least a couple of weeks. In her place was centre midfielder Helen Dermody who has just been promoted from the reserves. Normal left back Jenny Lowe also began on the bench and had left winger Natalie Brace deputising for her.
Manager Stuart Wilson was full of praise for the out of position pair:
“Helen was very strong technically. She did her job for us today. Natalie was pretty good in there. We managed to get her in her proper position where she did extremely well”. When asked who he would like for the 3rd round, “Not fussed. A draw at home is good enough for me”.
Coventry City: Kerry Williamson, Helen Dermody, Natalie Brace (Kelly-Ann Willis, 79), Maria Cartwright, Natasha Lynch, Ali Forbes, Kirsty Robson, Emma Lipman, Mel Byrne, Sinead Wade (Kelly Henson, 83), Leanne Griffin (Jenny Lowe, 49) Sub not used: Sarah Marshall