Youthful Glassgirls Undone at the Death

Hannah Fishwick’s clever volley had put the Glassgirls ahead early in the game, but the home side fought back to level through Tara Kirk in the opening stages of the second half and Niamh Connor headed home what proved to be the decisive goal four minutes from time, although Stour mounted a late charge for an equaliser in what turned out to be almost 13 minutes of added time!

With the League Title already in the bag, Manager Andy Fisher had rung the changes, with no fewer than six players rested from the starting line-up in that momentous win against Northampton seven days earlier, with four players called up from the Reserves squad.

There was a debut at left-back for Charlie Atkinson, whilst striker Grace Rogers came on as a half time substitute for her debut as well, and another striker, Demi Phillips, and midfielder and Reserves captain Meg Bailey both made their first League appearances with just one Cup match each under their belts previously.

Speaking after the match, Fisher was understandably philosophical about the result, but upbeat about the day’s positive aspects.

“I never like losing a game, any manager who says they’re happy to lose is lying, I promise you! It would have been good to hang onto the point we looked like we were going to get, but over the game as a whole they probably deserved to edge it, so no real complaints on that score.

“But we always said that if we managed to get things wrapped up with a couple of games to go we would use the opportunity to get a few of the youngsters involved. If we mean what we say about creating a proper pathway here then we only do that by making sure players get that chance to step up whenever we can.

“They’ve all taken that opportunity with both hands today, and I can’t tell you how proud that makes me. For all of them, it’s the first time they’ve played against opposition of this quality at National League level, and they’ll all come out of it a bit better for the experience.

“We threw Charlie in at the deep end a bit, starting the game, but she never looked fazed and she coped well with their threat down the right. Grace and Demi worked really hard when they came on, which was exactly what we wanted to see, and Meg had a tough job dealing with the pace of their top scorer late in the game but she handled that well.

“It’s really encouraging for the future, and we know there are others in the Reserves, the Academy and the Under 18s itching for their chance. The work that’s being done at those levels by Mike, Gee, Matt Guise and all our junior coaches is building the framework for what we hope will be a very exciting future.”

Stour made a bright start, Niamh Deasy firing high and wide from the first chance of the game just two minutes in, but Posh began to find their feet, going close themselves when Keir Perkins curled a shot just wide on 11 minutes, one of a number of promising attacks that didn’t quite come off.

However, it was the Glassgirls who drew first blood when Deasy was fouled out on the right and Angie Morley fired the free kick in to the near post where HANNAH FISHWICK got her foot around the ball on the volley to give Neive Corry in the home goal little chance.

On the whole, though, it was still Peterborough who were having the upper hand, and Stour had a stroke of luck when Rachel Lawrence lifted a cross from the right in to the far post where the ball rebounded back of the indie of the upright and into the grateful arms of Amie Preston. Lawrence then followed up with another dangerous cross, this time low and hard, and just beyond the reach of Kirk.

The home side were looking a threat from set pieces, and Stour had to deal – not altogether comfortably – with a couple of corners into the heart of the six-yard box, while Perkins managed to lift a close range shot over the bar when she looked bound to score, although the flag was already raised for offside.

At the other end, Amber Lawrence broke clear for Stour, with Lucie Mugridge getting across well to block as the striker looked to get her shot away, while Kayleigh Aylmer volleyed just over at the other end from a half-cleared corner, and then Deasy was unable to get enough force into her header to trouble Corry as the half drew to a close.

Stourbridge’s lead had always looked a slender one, and it didn’t last long into the second half, as Posh levelled on 51 minutes through TARA KIRK, leaping at the near post and directing her header beyond Preston from Perkins’ excellent cross to bring parity.

But the home side didn’t really go for the jugular from that point, and the game became something of a midfield tussle, although the Glassgirls survived one particular scare as Sophie Heaselgrave’ s attempted clearance cannoned off Perkins and wide of goal. Meanwhile, substitute Alex Nicklin saw a mishit free kick go harmlessly wide after Ellie York had tripped Harrison on the break, but that apart Stour were struggling to get much change out of a solid home defence.

It looked like the match might peter out into a draw, but four minutes from time the home side struck the killer blow as Rachel Lawrence’s corner found the head of NIAMH CONNOR to find the far top corner.

Added time saw the Glassgirls push hard, forcing a handful of corners, while their best chance came as Harrison burst into the box and squared low for Deasy who could only fire over, meaning Stourbridge had to taste a rare League defeat.

(Photo - Charlie Atkinson, Demi Phillips, Meg Bailey & Grace Rogers pictured with Assistant manager Mike Harris and Manager Andy Fisher ahead of their first League appearances for Stourbridge)