Leicester took the long trip up to fellow promotion hopefuls Newcastle at the weekend. A 2-0 loss to the insanely rich London City Lionesses in the League Cup midweek notwithstanding, we went into this game looking decent enough. North East representation is very heavy in the WSL 2, with Sunderland and Durham alongside this weekend’s opponents. The Magpies had so far been storming the league, with 3 wins from 3 games, scoring 7 goals and conceding 1.
A 4-0 win to the home team solidified Newcastle’s lead in the league and they look pretty unstoppable. Katie Keane played a blinder and it was only her performance that kept this from being by a larger margin. Leicester looked leaden-footed and slow all day, while Newcastle were alive to every opportunity.
The starting line up looked similar to our last WSL 2 game against Ipswich, with Bance and Dennis coming into the midfield and Poppy Pritchard coming in up front. There is a lot of good young talent getting a chance in this team and that is something Rick Passmoor deserves some praise for, even if injuries in the squad are the main reason.
Early on, a loose pass from Ale left us under heavy pressure from Newcastle who were easily keeping the ball and let us press and run ourselves out of shape. This kept resulting in a few scrappy half chances but nothing too drastic. We certainly were able to get bodies around the ball. It was often a matter of defending in numbers, but on the back foot, hoping that someone will get something on the ball.
By the 12th minute, this exact pattern of play resulted in a breakthrough. Lambert turned the ball out into the path of McGovern on the right hand side and she had plenty of time and space to get a ball into the box. That ball then bobbled around and popped up just outside the box and Charlotte Wardlaw was first to it. It was tamely blocked in a way that allowed Wardlaw to pick it up again and fire into the net past Katie Keane. It was scrappy stuff, that could have been avoided if Leicester were a little more switched on, aggressive and proactive in their defending.
At 1-0 down, we didn’t seem bereft of ideas and confidence, but it did bring back memories of last season. We had to be patient when winning the ball back and impatient when we had it. With lots of running down blind alleys and lumping the ball up top whenever we could we really made Newcastle’s dominance clear. We had a decent penalty shout when Poppy Pritchard almost got to a through ball from Sarah Mayling. Tamminen came rushing off her goal line to intercept and took out Pritchard without touching the ball. It was 50/50 onto a loose ball but I’ve certainly seen them given. Going into half time at 1-1 could have changed the game drastically. In an alternate universe we probably lost 3-1 instead, but this is the timeline we live in.
Into the second half, we saw more attacks by Newcastle in much the same manner. Getting in down the sides of our defence, crossing the ball in or cutting it back and letting chaos ensue. Despite this being such a clear game plan, our defenders didn’t go into the second half any more alert to second balls and onrushing midfielders. I wondered if Passmoor could have gone to a 5 at the back to help pack the middle of the box, but I do see that is a catch 22 situation for him.
I have criticised him myself for being too defensive, so it was definitely a tough call. Keane was forced into a great double save, one with her hands and then another with her foot from the rebound. Losing Janina Leitzig was a big blow, but I think many Leicester fans thought Keane would be able to step up, especially at this level. She’s proved people right so far with good performances across the season.
On that note, Poppy Pritchard looks a talent. She’s tall, makes good runs and always makes herself available. Araya Dennis cut inside from the right and dragged a few defenders with her. Pritchard spotted the space and moved out to fill the gap and if Dennis had got the ball to her earlier she would have had a far better chance to shoot. Instead, Pritchard took the chance under heavy pressure and saw it saved relatively easily by the Newcastle keeper.
As we approached an hour, with occasional chances for us and Keane saving us at the back, it felt like if we get one back the tide could turn here. But in the 67th minute, former England international Jordan Nobbs crossed into Martha Thomas who was technically marked by Stapleton, but in the theme of the day she seemed surprised to see the ball come in. Just 2 minutes later, Thomas got onto a long ball from the back, raced between our two centre halves and scored her second of the day. The floodgates opened from here and we were lucky to come out with a 4-0 loss.
Thomas nearly made it a hat trick with a long range shot after a Nobbs free kick landed back with her. Keane was up to the challenge and leapt into her top left corner for an amazing save. Our offside trap kept being beaten and Nobbs was running the show just behind the frontline. With the last kick of the game Aoife Mannion chipped a rebounded ball over her own head after another Keane save from a corner.
It was a deserved 4-0 win for Newcastle and only Katie Keane’s agility, alertness and command of her box kept it from being even worse. We ended the day 7th in the league and learned a lot of lessons. Nearly everything that worked for Newcastle came from reacting first in an uncertain situation. Defensively and going forward, they were the first to any rebound, any stray pass, they were excellent and full of fire. Also, having an experienced top quality midfielder is something this side needs. Jordan Nobbs here, Fran Kirby at Brighton and a few other sides have these older, classy players you can play for 60 minutes or bring on for the last half hour that just raise the ceiling of the team.
Next up is a trip to second placed Sunderland this coming Sunday. On the evidence of this performance, we might follow a tough day on the Tyne with a weary one on the Wear.
