Aston Villa found their first win of the season, defeating ex-promotion rivals Sheffield United 3-1 in the group stage of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup at The Banks’s Stadium last night.
Jodi Hutton’s first half penalty, The Villians’ first goal in their new Walsall home, proved the difference in a game that was decided much more by solid defensive displays than attacking ones, with both sides struggling to generate dangerous attacking moves.
It was a slow start for the home side with Sheffield United seeing much of the early possession and chances. New signing Olivia Chance and ex-Villian Mel Johnson both had early opportunities to put the visitors ahead, but their shots were easily saved by Lisa Weiss.
As the half continued the game opened up considerably, with some much better attacking play at both ends. The ball was worked well by the home side and the visitors, especially down the channels but some good defending kept both teams at bay for the first half an hour.
Jodie Hutton was Aston Villa’s bright spark, with her constant threatening runs down the left and balls into the box, and it was none other than the England youth international herself who eventually put Aston Villa ahead in the 37th minute. After cutting inside to receive the ball on the left-hand side the Hutton was taken down brashly, with the referee pointing straight to the spot. The 19-year-old stepped up herself and calmly converted the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way.
The second half was a markedly quieter affair as the intensity of the first half waned and the game settled into a rhythm. Once again, the possession was shared but despite some slick passing the final ball was lacking, with neither side really threatening in the danger area. Of the chances that did occur none really troubled either keeper.
Despite Sheffield United’s many attacking talents they never really looked like finding an equaliser and though we saw glimpses of intensity, they constantly struggled to sustain it with some more solid defending from Aston Villa nullifying any attacks that they did produce.
That was, until the dying minutes, when The Blades finally managed to bundle the ball into the back of the net through Jade Pennock, however, devastatingly for the South Yorkshire club, it was swiftly disallowed for a foul on Villa goalkeeper Weiss in the thick of it.
Ultimately, despite a quiet and scrappy second half, Villa were able to keep The Blades at bay in the closing minutes to seal what was certainly an underwhelming victory for the Barclays FA Women’s Super League newcomers in the first round of matches in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup group stage, but an important win nonetheless.