Vixen's sail through to the Semis

Sunday 10 June 2012

FA WSL Continental Cup match

Vixen's sail through to the Semis

Bristol Academy are through to the FA WSL Continental Cup Semi-Final after beating Everton Ladies at the Stobart Stadium.

With Birmingham beating Doncaster Belles in the other group tie, it meant Bristol simply needed to avoid defeat at the Stobart Stadium to book their place in the semi finals. They not only did so, but went on to crush their hosts and take top spot in the group.

The game was played on the new iPitch, a 4G surface at the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings.

Everton applied early pressure in the opening 10 minutes and Everton midfielder Michelle Hinnigan nearly opened the scoring, but a fingertip save from Siobhan Chamberlain tipped her long range shot on the cross bar.

Spanish striker Laura Del Rio returned to the side after returning from injury. Her first chance of the game fell straight into the hands of Rachel Brown from a volley outside of the area.

Looking dangerous on the break, on the half hour mark the Vixen’s broke the deadlock when Del Rio took on the Everton defence and found Angharad James running to the box to slot the ball past Brown.

Half Time – Everton 0 – 1 Bristol Academy

Everton had the first chance of the second half when Natasha Dowie could only watch her shot from 12 yards out go past the post.

The Vixen’s doubled their lead after 71 minutes when Ann-Marie Heatherson was found inside the penalty area by Alex Greenwood. Player of the Match Jess Fishlock stepped up and fired the ball past Brown.

Bristol continued to create chances putting the Everton defence under pressure. Substitute Natasha Harding came off the bench replacing Mel Lawley, made it 3 – 0 scoring with her first touch of the game.

A mix up in the Everton defence between Greenwood and Brown after neither player claimed the ball and Harding was in the right place to slot the ball into an empty goal.

Ann-Marie Heatherson capitalised on an excellent performance by the Vixens when her shot from a tight angle in the last minute sailed over Brown into the back of the net.

Final Score: Everton 0 - 4 Bristol Academy

Attendance: 340

Player of the Match: Jess Fishlock