High-flying Reds Ladies gear up for big cup tie with fantastic league victory - The Redditch Standard

High-flying Reds Ladies gear up for big cup tie with fantastic league victory

Redditch Editorial 16th Nov, 2016   0

REDDITCH United Ladies will head into Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Birmingham County Cup second round tie against Coventry United Ladies in buoyant mood following a crushing 14-0 victory over Coleshill Town Women.

Sunday’s success over the division’s bottom team cemented Gary Barrell’s side’s position at the top of West Midlands Division One South and was a sixth league win in succession.

During that sequence the Reds have kept four clean sheets and scored a brilliant 43 goals.

Head coach Barrell is under no illusions that a far stiffer test awaits this weekend against a Coventry side who ply their trade in the FA Women’s Premier League South, but he believes his side have both the belief and ability to give their illustrious opponents plenty to worry about.




The Valley Stadium tie, which kicks off at 2pm and is free entrance for all, pits the Tier 6 Reds against Tier 3 opposition and Barrell has called for a big turnout to back his in-form side.

“A big crowd would really support the girls who are working incredibly hard to make Redditch United Ladies FC the premier destination for women’s football within not only Worcestershire but also the West Midlands,” said Barrell.


“This is a great opportunity for us to host one of the strongest teams in the country in what should be an exciting cup encounter.

“It would be great to get a big crowd down to the Valley, hopefully beating our record of 160, to support the girls as they attempt to become giant-killers in the cup.

“We are training twice a week now and progress is excellent, but this will be a very difficult match against a Coventry side who are having a great season competing at the top of their league.”

The Reds maintained their four-point lead at the top of the table with a convincing victory against newly-promoted Coleshill on Remembrance Sunday.

The game took place after an impeccably observed two-minute silence led by Reds assistant manager Matt Lightfoot and a select group of Army Cadets from Tennal Grange who were a credit to their instructors throughout the day.

The hosts flew out of the blocks and Mari Karina Pastor opened the scoring after two minutes before debutant Ellie Gerhold got on the scoresheet.

Gerhold took her first half goal tally to four and Val Margerum, Katie Edwards and Pastor also struck again to give Redditch an 8-0 half time lead.

Keen to maintain their fine defensive record, a strong United back five also impressed in the way they started attacks from defence, with the centre back partnership of Kellie Smith and Bex Ankcorn particularly prepared to drive forwards with the ball to allow the team to play on the front foot.

Gerhold opened the second half scoring and Katherine Christopher made it 10-0 before player of the match Margerum put her name forward for a goal of the season contender as she fired a brilliant strike into the top corner.

There was still time for Gerhold to complete a double hat-trick and Jj Jackson and Sofi Liperis to find the net before the full time whistle blew.

A delighted Barrell added: “The girls, as an entire team, played together and for each other throughout and are getting their rewards from training twice a week and fully committing to each other.

“We played some great football across the pitch, always being brave and showing to get on the ball and play, but equally without the ball we were prepared to put in a shift to get the ball back as quickly as possible.”

Printing

We can provide all of your printing needs at competitive rates.

YouTube

Check out the latest videos on our YouTube channel.

Reader Travel

Check out all of the latest reader travel offers to get your hands on some free gifts.

Announcements

Weddings, Birthdays, Bereavements, Thank you notices, Marriages and more.