Perkins and Kirk at the double in comfortable victory over Sheffield FC Women.
Peterborough United Women breezed to a comfortable victory in front of a large crowd at Abbey Lawn as braces from Keir Perkins and Tara Kirk secured a 4-0 win over Sheffield FC Women, extending their winning run to five games in all competitions.
Posh had a big opportunity to break the deadlock on just three minutes as Ellie York’s free-kick was met by Kirk just inside the area, but her side-footed volley just went wide. However, just three minutes later, Posh opened the scoring as Katie Middleton’s corner was met by Kirk at the near-post and she guided her header into the back of the net.
After quiet proceedings following the goal, Kirk had the ball in the back of the net once again, but she was adjudged to have been in an offside position. The first opportunity for the visitors fell on 33 minutes as Stacy Buxton saw her effort from the edge of the box straight into Neive Corry's hands.
Posh extended their advantage on 43 minutes and it was Kirk once again as Rosie Axten’s free-kick was palmed away by the goalkeeper, but our number 10 was there to tap home on the rebound. It became three on the stroke of half-time as Katie Middleton advanced down the right-hand side and her low cross was met by Perkins at the back-post, who fired into the roof of the net.
The scoring didn’t stop there and, with the last kick of the half, Perkins doubled her tally on the afternoon as she sent a low-driven effort into the bottom corner after Middleton’s corner fell to her on the edge of the box.
Dan Lawlor made a change at the break as Megan Lawlor replaced Axten. However, it was a quiet start to the second half as both sides struggled to carve out any opportunities. On 63 minutes, Middleton fed the ball through to Kirk, but she saw her effort blocked after cutting inside.
Middleton then unleashed an effort from the edge of the box, but once again, it was blocked by the Sheffield defence. On 76 minutes, Posh made their final change and it was Zaiga Lacite, making her first appearance for Posh after nearly 11 months, to replace Kirk.
Lacite was quickly involved in the action as the ball fell kindly to her behind the visitors’ backline, but she failed to make a clean connection. York, who was causing problems down the right-hand side throughout the game, sent a low cross to the front post, but Lacite failed to make a connection.
The goalkeeper was called into action in the closing stages, getting down low to keep a low-driven effort from Lacite before denying Sophie Scargill’s header after a superb ball from York.
Posh XI: Corry, York, Mugridge, Connor, Driscoll-King, Brown (Driscoll, 58mins), Bennett (Scargill, 58mins), Axten (Lawlor, 46mins), Perkins, Kirk (Lacite, 78mins), Middleton.
Photo Credit: Darren Wiles