ASTON VILLA LADIES 3-2 COVENTRY CITY BY KEV MONKS
A late show from Coventry City Ladies was not enough to stop the Sky Blues going down to 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa.
With City boss Mark Phillips giving a debut to new signing Steph Samuels, Coventry had the better of the opening period on an oversubscribed pitch at Coles Lane,Sutton Coldfield.
They had a sixth minute corner kicked off the line and Villa keeper Hanna Denslow made a fine save when Michelle Hickmott followed up.
City created another good chance in the 14th minute when a through ball from Katy Ward was chipped agonisingly inches over the bar by skipper Laura Healy.
Four minutes later, Villa went close when a Natalie Gibson effort was scrambled off the far post by Natasha Lynch.
The ever present City defender looked comfortable at the heart of City's defence but was powerless to stop Villa taking the lead two minutes into the second half, when Shona Franklin fired past Kelly Cartwright.
Villa, who won't be facing Coventry in the Birmingham County FA Cup Final on March 20th after losing 9-0 to Birmingham City in the semi-final last week, doubled their tally inside two minutes thanks to Levi Penny tapping in after Cartwright had parried a Franklin cross.
In the 61st minute,Penny added a second when she turned inside the penalty area to score with a low drive.
Mark Phillips rang the changes,making three quick substitutions. The move to bring on Julia Marshall was inspired. Against her former club, Marshall rallied the City players and with two minutes of normal time remaining, a stunning strike by Katy Ward reduced the arrears.
In the last kick of the game following seven minutes of stoppage time, City,who play Middlesbrough at home on Sunday, scored again when Michelle Hickmott was on hand to tap home an Anna McLeod cross.
TEAM
K.Cartwright,Bryenton,Archer (Stephenson 61),Healy (J.Marshall 67),Lynch,Samuels, Whalley (McLeod 61),M.Cartwright,Ward, Igbojoinu,Hickmott SNU S.Marshall.Lipman