Posh Women U23s secure win over The Glassgirls.
Peterborough United Women U23s secured back-to-back wins in the FA Women’s National League Reserves Midlands Division as they defeated Stourbridge Reserves 4-1 at Castle View Playing Fields, with a brace from Frankie Pim and goals from Taya Smith and Mia Karagholi.
Posh started the game brightly with long-distance efforts from Rebecca Mears and Ella-Mai Bale calling Meg Smith into action. Ellie Grosvenor advanced through on-goal, but Megan Dellar dived low to parry the ball away.
Alicia Podd headed Ellie Curson’s free-kick wide on eight minutes before Grosvenor played Charlie Atkinson towards goal, but she fired her effort wide of the post. On 26 minutes, Curson sent a low shot from distance towards goal, but Smith tipped the ball wide of the post.
Stourbridge continued to create chances, with Zara Gibbs headed over after a floating free-kick from Jess Bate. Late on in the first half, Mears cut inside and curled an effort inches wide of the top corner. Posh broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time as Frankie PIM collected the ball on the byline, advanced through the Stourbridge defence before curling her effort into the top right corner.
Posh picked up where they left off after the break as Pim advanced through the hosts defence, but her effort was straight at Smith. The U23s doubled their lead on 55 minutes as Curson sent a free-kick into the box, causing havoc in the box as the ball hit the woodwork before PIM headed home from yards out.
Dellar was forced into action on 59 minutes as Grosvenor fired her shot towards the top corner, Dellar tipped the ball onto the crossbar before collecting the rebound. On the hour mark, Posh scored a third and Pim turned provider on this occasion as her low cross found Taya SMITH and she tapped home from close-range.
The hosts continued to threaten with Grosvenor firing a great chance wide of the post after collecting the ball in space in the box. On 75 minutes, Stourbridge scored a consolation goal as Liv MALPASS headed in from close range following a cross into the box.
Mears saw her strike from the edge of the box was tipped over the crossbar by Smith. The following corner was sent in by Curson and Mia KARAGHOLI headed in from close-range after jumping highest in the box.
Manager, Michael Allsebrook, said after the game: “I’m really proud of the team today. We’ve played on a long pitch against a team that’s made it difficult for us and we’ve come away with a strong win. They’ve worked relentlessly hard, chased down every ball and, ultimately, got three points from a place that not many other teams are going to get anything from. We had to adapt the way that we played today, we knew we couldn’t always play nice football, but the players had to get stuck in against a team that likes to play directly. Every player played their part today, so we couldn’t be happier with the result.”
“Mia [Karagholi] and Taya [Smith] took their goals well today. They worked hard to create their chances and get into the positions that they did. Obviously, we know Frankie [Pim] is a reliable goalscorer, but to get more contributors to the team means we are a team that is feared. When you concede, it can go one of two ways, either you stick together or you crumble. The players kept their heads up and netted the fourth quickly, it shows how quickly we are developing as we wouldn’t have been resilient to have scored the fourth.”
Posh XI : Dellar, King, Osker, Sands, Richards-Reeves, Podd (sub 72min, Moore), Curson, Mears, Smith (sub 74min, Karagholi), Curson, Bale.
Unused Subs: Robinson, Akinyemi.
Written by Lauren Shiels.