A tight defeat at Park Hall Stadium
Even though it wasn’t the result that was wanted at Park Hall Stadium for The New Saints Women last night, it was still a really good performance in a 3-2 loss against Wrexham in the Genero Adran Premier.
Helen Evans and Chantelle Teare gave The New Saints a 2-0 lead before Keren Allen, Phoebe Davies, and Mari Gibbard hit back for the Red Dragons to give Steve Dale’s team the three points.
There is a lot to build from the game, and plenty of positives to take moving forward.
Caitlin Chapman
The Northern Irish number 17 was awarded the Henstone Distillery Player of the Match for getting two assists against Wrexham.
Caitlin Chapman’s first assist came in the second minute of the match, as Chapman whipped a ball into the box, which came off the the crossbar and found Helen Evans, who headed the ball into the net from point-blank range, with the 20-year-old’s second assist coming from a corner that found Teare in the 18-yard-area , and the number nine headed the ball into the corner of the net.
Chapman has the most assists in the Adran Premier this season with nine.
Ellie Suckley
The 16-year-old made some superb saves in the her first match with the first-team.
In what was a tough game to made a debut in front of crowd of 246, Ellie Suckley remained composed all game, and showed why she deserves to be in the squad looking ahead to the future.
One of Suckley’s best saves came with under 20 minutes to go, as she denied Tonicha Dickens.
The red card
It is safe to say Helen Evans was certainly unlucky to get sent off in the 51st minute of the match, which ultimately helped Wrexham’s hopes and momentum of getting the three points.
The number 18 made a challenge for the ball on former Saints player, Phoebe Davies, who stayed down, but it wasn’t a red card from watching the replay on commentary, as studs were not up.
Helen Evans was certainly doing a brilliant job in the game, and you feel if the referee made an alternative call, the result may well have been different.
Top four race still on
Moving on from Wrexham, there is now just two games to go of phase one for Greg Draper’s team.
The Saints are current four points ahead of Aberystwyth Town, but the Seasiders have two games in hand.
It could well come down to the final match of phase one between the two teams at Park Avenue for the last spot in the Genero Adran Premier Championship Conference on Sunday, February 11th.
Lead image by Brian Jones
