LCFC Women 2 Reading 1: Carrie us home
This won’t be news to anyone but it hasn’t been much fun following any of Leicester’s teams this season.
The men’s and women’s senior teams and the men’s under 21s are all still struggling in their respective leagues and all may still be relegated.
We’ve stuck at it though. Not that we’d give up anyway - Leicester til I die and all that - but there’s been enough on display from Leicester’s women’s side in recent weeks to keep those of us who follow them dreaming of their own famous great escape.
And it can be tough, especially when the men’s team lose on the Saturday and the women’s team lose on the Sunday. There’s been a lot of that this season. Monday morning office chat has often involved the phrase “great other than the football”.
So on a day when the atmosphere surrounding those who follow the men’s team got an undeniable boost, the story for the women was even better.
Leicester had scored two goals in the six games leading up to this crucial encounter with relegation rivals Reading. They matched that tally in one afternoon that finally saw a different team sink to the bottom of the WSL table.
Leicester were the better side for most of this game, with the visitors’ threat restricted to dangerous inswinging corners and a couple of shots from distance.
Sam Tierney’s controlled opener from Courtney Nevin’s excellent deep cross sparked wild celebrations. But just as it looked like the home side would lead at the break, Reading’s Charlie Wellings found herself in the right spot at the right time to equalise.
Nerves set in as second half chances came and went. Hannah Cain had a shot saved when clean through and saw a header go over the bar. Aileen Whelan somehow missed her kick when a goal looked inevitable. Tierney had a shot turned wide of the near post. The longer the game went on, the more chances Leicester created and of course they could and should have been out of sight before the winner finally came.
But that doesn’t matter. The goal arrived. That’s all Willie Kirk and his team could have hoped for in the runup to a game everyone connected with the club had been relishing for weeks.
Normally a 96th minute winner would be classed as deep into stoppage time but there were 12 minutes signalled at the end of the second half to add to the five at the end of the first. By the end, it felt like a game that had gone to extra time. This feeling was exacerbated by the tired touches as the clock ticked down and the bodies slumping to the floor at the final whistle - Reading bodies.
After weeks and months of misfiring, the winner here seemed remarkably simple. The adaptable Tierney, playing on the right side of a diamond midfield, found Cain in the penalty area with her back to goal. One Welsh international then located another, Carrie Jones exploiting just enough space to guide Cain’s pass into the far corner.
The loan stars this season have been goalkeeper Janina Leitzig of Bayern Munich and Manchester City’s holding midfielder Ruby Mace but this was a glorious moment for another of Leicester’s temporary acquisitions. Jones, borrowed from Manchester United, is a willing runner and committed presser who often shows good close control but, for an attacking player, rarely finds herself in front of goal. Hopefully this vital intervention kickstarts her time with us.
While it wasn’t a perfect performance and there were understandable nerves, it’s worth commending the whole team given the high stakes.
So let’s run through the outfielders, especially given the usual standout in Leitzig had so little to do. The two southern hemisphere full-backs again shone with CJ Bott’s driving runs from right-back a reliable outlet and Nevin providing an inch-perfect cross for Tierney’s goal. Sophie Howard and Ashleigh Plumptre swept up any danger on the counter.
Mace impressed yet again and looks every bit a WSL superstar in the making. Tierney took her goal brilliantly. Whelan was as committed as ever. Cain’s pace terrified the Reading defence all afternoon. Remy Siemsen stretched the back line too. Jones provided the finish when it mattered most.
Late subs Missy Goodwin and Josie Green helped see the game out, while the icing on the cake was Jess Sigsworth’s introduction after more than a year out injured. She was greeted onto the pitch by huge smiles from her team-mates and rapturous applause from the stands. It summed up a togetherness that could play a huge part in Leicester’s WSL fate this season.
Everyone at the club deserves a huge amount of credit for the dynamic and attacking approach when it would have been easy, especially in a nervy game like this, to try to sit back and play on the break. Kirk’s Leicester take risks and deserved the reward of these three points. Leicester have still got a tough run-in but the aim will probably be to ensure their fate is in their own hands ahead of the final day’s trip to Brighton.
For now, let’s just enjoy a winning WSL weekend. This Sunday was great because of the football.
