Peterborough United Women Under 23s suffered a 6-1 defeat to Stoke City Women Development at the idverde Training Ground in their latest FA Women’s National League Reserves Midlands Division fixture.
An early goal from Alicia Podd was not enough for Posh Women Under 23s as The Potters picked up the three points at the idverde Training Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Posh took an early lead on 9 minutes with Abrantes finding Podd in the box; her initial effort was closed down by the keeper but PODD soon snatched the ball and finished into the open net.
Minutes later Posh looked for another with Smith breaking away on the right wing to find Gee, she darted into the box but couldn't pick out a teammate to finish the move.
On 17 minutes, Stoke found the equaliser with Phoebe LLOYD converting from close range.
With the score level, Posh pushed on to get back ahead, Gee travelled down the line and crossed into Cragg at the back post, but her first-time effort went over the bar.
The visitors went ahead on 39 minutes after they won the ball on half-way line and sent Imogen FAHY through on goal to finish one-on-one.
Posh were unlucky to not find themselves level at the start of the second half, after a shot from Smith from the edge of the box looked like it was finding the top corner, but it struck the inside of the post.
Stoke scored a third when their forward won the ball back in the box and played it across to Kaya ANDERSON who scored on 62 minutes.
The fourth goal came from a penalty on 66 minutes after a Stoke player was brought down inside the box. The penalty was converted down the middle of the goal by FAHEY for her second of the match.
Posh were determined to get back into the game, a Gee cross found substitute Ford at the back post, but she couldn’t rise high enough to head the ball.
On 83 minutes, HODGINS scored the fifth goal for Stoke despite Hollwey's initial block.
Late in the match, Stoke scored the final goal of their tally. On 89 minutes, a corner was cleared but then fell to LLOYD on the edge of the box who striked from distance to find the top corner.
Posh had another good chance in injury time with Oliver shooting from distance across goal which struck the inside of the post.
Manager Michael Allsebrook said: “I thought we were really competitive for about 55 minutes of the game, I thought we gave them a really good game. We asked the girls beforehand to be really disciplined out of possession and to be tactically really intelligent and I thought we were. We missed Taya’s chance after an hour at 2-1, if that goes in then it’s level and I think we go on with the game. We didn’t quite make the chance happen, we’ve got caught at the end but they’re a good side. Ultimately, we’ve got to learn from it. Whilst the result is the result, I don’t think it’s a reflection of the game in total.
“Jess was outstanding today, her delivery from set-pieces was great and Alicia has got a goal in her. It really set us up, we got our tails up and from then I thought we were really strong in the game. They equalised quite soon after which I think killed the momentum a little bit but for us, we asked the girls to be really brave and to cause them a problem and I thought we did.”
Posh: Hollwey, Richards-Reeves (sub Cooper 63min), Abrantes, Riley (sub Ford 79min), Biggadike, Gee (sub Cook 88min), Podd, Smith, Oliver, Cragg, Iyawa (sub Akinyemi 43min).
Half-Time: Peterborough United Women Under 23s 1-2 Stoke City Women Development
Full-Time: Peterborough United Women Under 23s 1-6 Stoke City Women Development
Photo credit: Erin Wilson
Written by Jake Clipson-Cox