Saturday 8th February 2025 - Kick Off 9.30am
The girls were back on the road with an early start over in Brighouse for a match against a team they hadn’t played in a number of years. The league table indicated that this should be a win for Town, but the girls were told not take the opposition for granted as the previous encounter had been a closely fought game.
With an almost fully fit squad a strong line up and subs meant no excuses for the girls. The match started with Olivia Harvey in goal and a back four of Izzy Stobbs, Lilly Perry, Abbie Rushworth and Freya Welbourne. Jenny Crossley and Grace Denny once again in central midfield with Izzy Colbert and Amelia Troughton on the wings. Once again upfront was the strike partnership of Camilla Rishton-Hepworth and Maja Kulis. On the bench was Cecily Gambrill and Ava Call.
The game started in dry but fresh weather conditions, on a pitch which slopped downhill from the side lines. The first 5 minutes saw each team gauge their opposition with not much attacking threat with a lot being played in midfield. The first real attack of the game saw Brighouse win a corner and subsequently hit the bar with a goal mouth scramble ensuing. The defence cleared their lines to keep the game at 0-0, but the warning was there already for Town. Knaresborough settled into their rhythm once again and started to utilise the width of the pitch to turn the Brighouse defence. On the 15-minute mark there was some good link up play between Jenny and Grace, which saw a lovely weighted ball by Jenny through for Maja. Having kept on side and burst through towards the edge of the box on the right-hand side, Maja took a touch and from just outside the box hit a rocket into the top corner of the goal, leaving the goalkeeper to grasp at thin air as it flew into the net. The next 10 minutes saw a number of attacks, mainly from Town through the middle and down the flanks, but with no goals being added due to a number of very tight offside calls. At the other end of the pitch Olivia made a couple of important saves to keep Brighouse at bay. Brighouse were continuing to play a high line and were getting caught more and more as the half wore on. Towards the middle of the half a crucial tackle from Freya close to the Town box prevented what would have been a free run on goal. After approximately 30 minutes Ava replaced Grace and Cecily replaced Amelia. A slight reshuffle saw Izzy C move into the central midfield role vacated by Grace. A couple of mazy runs from Ava towards the end of the half kept the pressure on Brighouse but their attacking threat remained. The first half came to a close with little injury time and the match finely posed at 1-0 to Town still.
No changes were made at half time and so the second half started with the same players who finished the first half. The game continued to remain unchanged but after about 15 minutes a corner was won down the left-hand side. Lilly stepped up to deliver a well-placed corner into the six yard area which the defence didn’t really know what to do with. It resulting in one of the Brighouse central defenders trying to clear it but inadvertently kneed it into her own net. 2-0 to Town. It was certainly well deserved. A second corner was won on the opposite flank 5 minutes later, which resulted in another goal. Lilly once again put in a teasing corner right into the heart of the Brighouse box, which was directed into the goal by the shoulder of Camilla. 3-0 and the game was slipping away from Brighouse now. They had struggled to get out of their own half and the two quick goals backed up this pattern of play. Both Grace and Amelia were now back on the pitch with Ava and Cecily making way. Within a couple of minutes of the third goal, more attacks were occurring and one in particular almost saw Town score a fourth. A lovely through ball to Maja who took an early shot at goal brought about a great save from the Brighouse goalkeeper. The ball was still in play and spinning on the goal line. A coming together between Camilla and a defender somehow prevented the ball going over the line, but it felt like there were more goals for Town. The fourth goal eventually appeared about 10 minutes later when Lilly put a through ball down the left-hand side for Amelia to outpace their defender. On collecting the ball Amelia, produced a lovely bit of magic with a drag back, cut inside and hit a first time shot from the edge of the box over the keeper who was stood about 10 yards off her line. The ball flew over the keeper’s head and nestled into the goal. A great way to put the game to bed. Further changes with just over 10 minutes to go saw Cecily replace Abbie and Ava replace Maja. Amelia moved up front with Cecily out to right back and Izzy Stobbs into centre half. The only sore note being the goal conceded by Town with 3 minutes left to play. Olivia had controlled the box well this half and made a crucial punch of the ball midway through the half but was unable to prevent their striker taking one of the few opportunities to shoot at our goal. In the final minute of the game Izzy put Camilla through on goal but for a last gasp tackle from Brighouse would have more than likely seen a fifth goal scored by Town. The game came to an end and a well-deserved 4-1 win for Town.
Thoughts from Captain Lilly Perry on the game:
"Brilliant performance from the girls on Saturday from beginning to end. They worked really hard to maintain control of the game. Although pitch conditions were poor we didn’t let this stop us performing."
Result: 4-1 win by Knaresborough Town U.18’s
Goal scorers: Maja Kulis, OG (Lilly Perry corner), Camilla Rishton-Hepworth, Amelia Troughton
Match Report: Michael Richardson