Rotherham Utd. L.F.C.  2  .v.  1 Stoke City L.F.C.

Still “smarting” after last weeks defeat at Coventry, Paul Durrands (Manager) made changes to the line up and included debutant 16 year old Nat Mason in his starting eleven.

After reverting back to their preferred playing system, Rotherham made the better start and pressed Stoke back for the early part of the game, using all the width of the pitch to gain the upper hand.

Rotherham’s midfield trio dominated the first half and sprayed the ball from one flank to the other allowing the homesters to utilize their pace and industry.

It was no surprise midway through the first half that Rotherham scored as Kerry Jones struck a 25 yard shot that rifled over the Stoke keeper into the net.

Then within minutes of the half time whistle, Sara Thickitt weaved some magic from the left flank, cut inside her full back and unleashed a thunderous shot that struck the underside of the bar and out  to safety.

 Rotherham went  in at half time with a deserved 1-0 lead.

Stoke hit back with an equaliser after 15 minutes of the restart after sloppy defending allowed the Stoke forward to turn on the edge of the 18 yard box and slot it home from a rebound of her first shot that was originally saved by Charlie Whiteley.

Rotherham rallied and pressed with Helen Lynskey always looking dangerous and a long range effort from Amy Pollock was well saved by the visitors keeper.

A sharp turn by Nat Mason was pushed by the post as the visiting keeper started to keep Rotherham at bay.

From an Amy Pollock pinpoint free kick, Kerry Jones rose above everyone at the far post, to head home a superb effort to regain Rotherham the lead after 72 minutes.

Stoke pressed Rotherham back for the last 15 minutes of the game, but with their back four well marshalled by skipper Kerry Longstone, Rotherham held out comfortably to take all three points.

Manager’s comments:

I was very pleased with the way we bounced back after our defeat at Coventry last week.

We played football that I knew we were capable of and when we needed to “mix up” the good football with graft, we succeeded in changing accordingly.

I had to “tweak” with a few positional and tactical changes to the team and the girls responded.

Stoke City are a very good outfit and after they took the scalp of an excellent Wolves team last week, it can only do our confidence the world of good after beating them.

Special mention has to go to debutant 16 year Nat mason, who I “threw in the deep end” with a full game, and to her credit she responded very well.