Ladies book big FA Cup meeting with Shrewsbury after thrilling win
LEEK Town Ladies are through to the next preliminary round of FA cup where they will meet Shrewsbury Town away later this month.
The ladies booked their place with a 4-3 win at Kidderminster Harriers at the weekend. Leek got off to a great start when a good ball in from Katie Gibbons found the head of Chantelle Gallagher on six minutes.
Kidderminster came back and pressed Leek hard, resulting in an equalising goal. The home team then looked for a second and the Leek back four were forced to work hard to keep the scores level.
And just before half-time it was the home side who nosed in front with a well taken goal from 18 yards which Austin couldn’t quite get a hand to.
Leek introduced Alana Copeland for the second half and she was immediately in the thick of the action breaking up play and playing the ball forward. Leek were now having a good spell and pushed forward but couldn’t find the equaliser.
A second substitution for Leek saw Amelia Robb enter the game and she had an immediate impact following a ball in from a corner, firing the ball into the opposition net to make it 2-2.
A great cross from Lockett found the head of Morris running in and she powered the ball into the net to put Leek in front for the second time and 70 minutes in and things got even better for Leek when Lockett again found Gallagher who smashed the ball into the net to give Leek some breathing space.
Kidderminster pushed forward again and a few minutes before the end and their efforts were rewarded with a goal after a Leek mistake.
The final few minutes were very hectic with Leek defending their lead and using forward Liv Mountford as the target to release the pressure. Mountford was brought on for the last 20 minutes proved to be a very willing runner and came close with a long-range effort which the goalkeeper did well to hold on to. Leek played the last few minutes out and were pleased to progress to the next round. Leek squad: Austin, Brown, Sale-hancock, Rushton, Smith, Morris, Goodfellow, Lockett, Hesketh, Gibbons, Gallagher, Copeland, Robb, Mountford.