Lawrence Double Sees Glassgirls Through!

Any lingering hangover from the opening day defeat at Nottingham Forest was quickly banished as captain Amber Lawrence put the Glassgirls ahead inside five minutes, and although the visitors levelled not long afterwards, Jess Lowe restored the lead before the interval, and further goals from Lawrence And Niamh Deasy wrapped the game up in the second half.

Stourbridge were out of the blocks as though they had a point to prove, and could – probably should – have been ahead with two near misses within as many minutes. First Lawrence weighted her ball across the box perfectly for Lowe, whose shot was blocked behind by a defender on the line, and from the resulting corner Zoe Clarke thumped a volley against the bar, with Becky Sidwell relived to claim the loose ball as it bounced down.

The frustration didn’t last long, however, as Stour forged ahead on five minutes. Hannah Fishwick’s delivery into the box left Sidwell hesitating and AMBER LAWRENCE stole in ahead of the York keeper to touch the ball home.

And there was no let-up in the aftermath. Fishwick’s deflected shot rolled narrowly wide, Lawrence fired straight at Sidwell from 20 yards, and then Alex Nicklin’s left foot shot looked bound for the bottom corner before Sidwell pulled off an excellent save.

But for all their early dominance, the Glassgirls suddenly found themselves pegged back. Jamie-Lee Bamford did well under pressure to punch away a corner, but when the ball was recycled out to the left wing, the cross in was met by a perfect glancing header from MILLY ASH that gave Bamford no chance at all.

Growing in confidence, the visitors went on to enjoy their best spell of the game, and Stourbridge looked rattled by the setback, although the only slight scare came when a ball in from the right almost caught out Sophie Heaselgrave before Bamford claimed.

Gradually Stourbridge reasserted their authority as half time approached. Mill Rogers’ low cross was prodded wide by Lawrence, and then Nicklin saw her effort blocked on the line before crossing just too far in front of the onrushing Lowe, with Sidwell then excelling again as she tipped Lawrence’s shot over the bar.

Four minutes from the break Stour were back ahead. Heaselgrave picked out the run of JESS LOWE behind the York left back, and the winger took the ball on in her stride before firing low beneath Sidwell, and Lowe almost finished the half with a second as she forced a good low save from Sidwell with a shot on the turn.

The second half began with the Glassgirls on the front foot, although chances were in short supply aside from a Lawrence header that was directed too close to Sidwell.

It took until the hour mark for the Glassgirls to really push home their advantage, with Nicklin’s driving run causing alarm in the York defence, and she timed her ball to AMBER LAWRENCE perfectly to give the striker the opportunity to fire beyond Sidwell into the bottom corner.

Sidwell was in action again as the game entered the final 15 minutes, tipping Lois Jefferies’ free kick onto the post before grabbing the ball at the second attempt, while Bamford was called upon to deal with a weak effort at the other end.

Deasy was unlucky not to get herself on the scoresheet when she lifted the ball over Sidwell only to see the ball bounce down and away from goal off the crossbar, but York were not going away and were looking to push hard as time ran out, with Bamford again able to deal with a good ball in that just eluded a couple of lurking strikers.

But it was Stourbridge who completed the scoring ten minutes into added time through last season’s top scorer NIAMH DEASY as she opened her account for this season, robbing a defender in the area before flashing a shot past the unfortunate Sidwell.

The Glassgirls will now progress to the FAWNL Cup First Round, to be played on Sunday 1st October. The draw is expected to be announced shortly.

(Photo - Anthony Dunn, Focus Dunn Sports Photography)