Report by Ieuan Evans

After their game against Curzon was postponed the week before, West faced a Salford City team travelling to Brookburn Road hoping to keep their title hopes alive.

West started the first half the brightest, dealing with Salford’s attempts to play their striker in behind the defence and breaking forward to create chances of their own. West’s best opportunity came when Sophie Bracegirdle picked out a late run into the box by Shauna Edmondson after a good spell of possession. Shauna beat her opponent to the cutback but her shot across goal fizzled just wide of the post.

West continued to apply pressure but it was Salford who took the lead, against the run of play. A bouncing ball in the box was reached first by a Salford player before she was brought down, giving the referee no choice but to award a foul. The subsequent penalty was converted by the Salford player to make it 1-0 going into half-time.

West started the second half with the same intensity as the first however Salford matched them, making for a more competitive second half. Neither team looked like they were taking control until Salford’s numerous attempts to play the ball in behind West’s defence finally reached their forward who ran through 1v1 and calmly dinked it over the onrushing goalkeeper to give them a 2 goal cushion.

Following the goal, both sides struggled to create clear chances to score. West did earn themselves a penalty following a spill by the goalkeeper however they failed to capitalise on the opportunity and the final score remained 2-0.

West can take positives from the game and will have been pleased to see the return of several players after spells out with injury, but will ultimately be disappointed with the outcome having missed good goal scoring opportunities.

This game was also Bianca Blöchl’s last before she moves away for a new job and the club would like to state its thanks for her contributions on and off the pitch. We hope she will return soon!