Lilley treble to end the season as Brewers edge win in a nine-goal thriller
BURTON Albion Women ended their season in spectacular fashion, coming back from two goals down for a 5-4 win against Coundon Court.
And managerjoe Kirkland could put aside his disappointment with conceding four goals after his side pulled off the win with several players out of position – they began the game with only one fit defender in Sophie Richards.
“To go two goals down, and then to come back and win 5-4 in any match is pretty incredible,” said Kirkland.
“We had five players out of position and one defender in our entire squad, so the result is significant.
“We weren’t happy with our first half performance, more so with how we started the match, gifting them two early goals, but the key thing is how you react to that and the reaction in the second half was incredibly positive.
“We’ve not had any luck all season, we hit the bar on a few occasions and had a couple of deflections which led to goals, so it’s about time something went our way.”
Coundon’s first chance came in the second minute.
Sophie Shale managed to get to a loose pass just ahead of Katie Jubb and prodded the ball through to Jess Lundie, who was through on goal but keeper Olena Tatarczuk came out to close the angle and was happy to see Lundie shoot wide.
The Brewers were behind just a few minutes later.
In trying to play out from their own goal kick, Emily Gillott lost the ball and Megan Holdcroft played it back across goal for Lundie to tap in.
Coundon looked to press home their advantage, with the Brewers finding it difficult to get out of their own half.
And it was 2-0 after 16 minutes when Lundie cut inside Gillott and passed the ball into the corner of the net.
Within two minutes, the Brewers halved the deficit.
A throw in from Shanae Thomas was controlled by Alice Lilley in the penalty area.
After dribbling past a defender, her shot was blocked but when the ball came back to her, she turned and shot as she fell, the ball slipping under the hand of Megan
Donohoe in the Coundon goal.
The Brewers switched to a back four and began to look more in control than they had in the early parts of the game, although both sides looked dangerous in attack.
It was the Brewers who scored next, though.
Louise Price intercepted a loose Lundie pass and played the ball wide to Hajrah Mahmood, who delivered a perfectly-weighted pass in behind the Coundon defence for Lilley to break clear and hit a powerful first time shot past Donohoe.
Burton created another great chance not long after this as they broke from a Coundon corner.
Lilley played the ball through for Elisha Gourlay, who released Mahmood but Donohoe rushed out to block the first attempt and smother the second.
The Brewers started the second half well and created the first chance.
Lilley won the ball off a Coundon defender and played it to Mahmood on the edge of the penalty area but her shot clipped the bar with Donohoe beaten.
The Brewers took the lead in the 55th minute.
Skye Lakin-wright played the ball to Millie Drinkhall some distance from goal on the left and she brought it under control and hit a shot that sailed over the keeper and in, a real goal of the season contender.
Back came Coundon who equalised when Lundie played an excellent ball through for Shale, who got beyond stand-in centreback Beth Naqwi and rocketed a shot into the top corner. Coundon then regained the lead. Shale and Lundie combined well on the edge of the Brewers penalty area and when Shale played the ball wide to Holdcroft, her first time finish nestled into the corner.
The roller-coaster of a game soon turned back the other way, when the Brewers equalised in the 83rd minute.
A Sophie Richards free kick crashed off the bar and when Gillott closed down an attempted clearance, the ball fell to Lilley, who turned it in to complete her hat-trick.
Coundon had a great chance to retake the lead when Lundie’s back heel found Asya Osman free on the left.
Her cross was met by Shale but the first-time effort was well saved by Tatarczuk.
And that was to prove decisive as Albion finally found the winner.
Lilley’s corner to the back post was well met by Richards with a looping header that dropped under the bar for her first goal of the season, which couldn’t have come at a better time.