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With Stourbridge publicly smarting from being beaten in pre season this match was always going to be a full blooded affair.
Gornal kicked off the fixture playing up the slope and was immediately on the attack with Keisha Sasa playing the ball down the left channel for Rachel Letford to run at the Stourbridge defence. The ball was crossed deep for Levi Cheadle to control and tee up Tracey Haycock on the edge of the area but her weaker left foot effort lacked power and was comfortably gathered by the Stourbridge goalkeeper.
Stourbridge immediately tried to launch an attack of their own via their quick number No9 however the pace of Keisha Sasa easily dealt with the threat.
The next Gornal attack saw them pen the Stourbridge midfield deep into their own half and forced a free kick 4 yards in from the corner flag. Beth Arrowsmith swung the ball towards the near post causing the Stourbridge keeper to palm the ball down into the ground and Gornal captain Sarah Hamill-Moss’ acrobatic overhead kick from two yards out gave Gornal the lead after only 4 minutes.
The pace of the Gornal forward line continued to give the Stourbridge defenders problems whilst the strength and pace in the Gornal defence made sure that the Stourbridge front two were kept quiet and allowed both Gornal full backs to support the attack.
In the thirteenth minute a long throw from Dionne Mckee found gornal number 9 Rachel Letford down the left wing, she beat the covering defender before delivering a left foot cross to the edge of the six yard box where Sarah Hamill-Moss managed to get in front of her marker and sent a looping header over the Stourbridge keeper only to see it come of the crossbar. Kirsty Dixon reacted quickest to side foot the ball past the Stourbridge keeper to give Gornal a 2-0 lead.
Whilst Gornal continued to dominate the play they were unable to trouble the Stourbridge however the back four of Chelsea O Callaghan, Stepanie Juszczyszyn, Keisha Sasa and Dionne Mckee kept the Stourbridge forwards quiet and when Stourbridge managed to get the ball beyond them, keeper Rachael Graham was on hand to sweep up.
There was a 5 minute break in play on 35 minutes as the air ambulance landed on the adjacent cricket field. On resumption the play continued in much the same fashion and Gornal were good value for their 2-0 half time lead.
The second half continued in a similar patter to the first with Gornal keeping the pressure on the Stourbridge defence causing them to punt the ball upfield hoping their two forwards could get on the end of something.
Gornal created an excellent chance from one of these long clearances with Stepanie Juszczyszyn volleying the ball into the Stourbridge penalty area for Kirsty Dixon to latch onto however her volley agonisingly cleared the far post with the Stourbridge keeper well beaten.
Gornal made a double substitution in 55th minutes with debutant Olivia Riese replacing Beth Arrowsmith in the centre of midfield and jet heeled Siobhan Peplow replacing Levi Cheadle on the left wing.
On 65 minutes Gornal made their final substitution with Drew Harris replacing Tracey Haycock who had worked tirelessly down the right flank.
Shortly after the introduction Rachel Letford picked up the ball down the right and out paced the Stourbridge defence. She cut inside before unleashing a right foot shot which again narrowly cleared the post with the Stourbridge keeper well beaten.
After missing a number of clear cut chances to score the third goal and finish off the tie Gornal paid the price in the 85 minute when Stourbridge committed more players into attack and the Stourbridge number 11 managed to bisect the two central defenders and took the ball into the area and tried to take the ball round the dicing Rachael Graham who was adjudged to have made contact with the attacker. The referee initially allowed advantage but when the follow up shot was blocked he awarded a penalty.
Up stepped the Stourbridge number 9 to despatch the ball into the right hand corner handing Stourbridge a lifeline and set up a frenetic final 5 minutes
In the 89th minute a Stourbridge corner was swung in and with Gornal keeper being held down the ball reached the far post but an excellent header off the line by forward Kirsty Dixon gave Gornal a thoroughly deserved win taking them into the 4th Qualifying round where they will play Premier league division 1 side Radcliffe Olympic.
Player of the match was Chelsea O Callaghan who didn’t put a foot wrong all match.
