Pre-Season Match Report | Keynsham Town Ladies 2-1 Cardiff City FC Women

Cardiff City FC Women were narrowly defeated away from home against Keynsham Town on Sunday afternoon, following a hard-fought pre-season fixture in Somerset.

Phoebie Poole scored City’s sole goal of the encounter, finishing well from inside the area in the second half.

The visitors began strongly, dominating the opening minutes of proceedings. Poole, alongside the newly-returned Alana Murphy, sought to wreak havoc at the top end of the pitch, forcing mistakes from their opponents and linking up well in attack. A header was blocked off the goal line in only the second minute of play, while Murphy’s strike a minute later went just wide of the mark.

Moments later, Poole nearly set up Murphy beautifully with a low cross into the middle of the area, but her teammate was just inches short of reaching far enough to connect and break the deadlock.

Catherine Walsh controlled the middle of the park well in these early parts of the match, placing several key passes that resulted in chances for her side. Walsh herself came closest to scoring just past the quarter hour mark, taking her free-kick directly from 20 yards out. Striking powerfully, the effort didn’t quite swing as much as the midfielder would’ve liked, leaving the ‘keeper to collect under pressure.

The hosts took an unexpected lead 25 minutes in, striking home on the counter following some positive movement up the field by the visitors. The lead was doubled one minute later, as the hosts netted from a free-kick with a deflected header.

Regaining control in the following passages of play, the Bluebirds pressed for their opener, though the hosts held fast for the remainder of the first half.

Following the interval, City made changes to the side, bringing on fresh legs for the visitors to chase the lead.

It didn’t take too long for the Bluebirds to find their first of the afternoon, when Poole was on hand in the area to strike home following a scramble for the ball off a corner-kick.

Controlling possession for the remainder, the visitors were not able to find an equaliser, however, and City were defeated away from home at the end of their first pre-season fixture of the summer.

Cardiff City FC Women: Chamberlain (Mujica 46’), Owen, Jones, Daley, Price (Trialist 60'), Broadhurst (Watkins 46'), Trialist (Norman 46'), Green (Bowen-Quirk 65'), Murphy (Atkins 46'), C. Walsh (Hocking 60'), Poole (Cook 65'). Subs: Trialist, Evans.

Following the final whistle, head coach Iain Darbyshire spoke to cardiffcityfc.co.uk to discuss the result:

“We played some really good stuff today,” began Iain. “There are a lot of positives to take from it and I think that a lot of the girls did really well. Keynsham play in a good league and we knew we’d be testing ourselves today, so it was a good experience.

“We’ve been back in now for two or three weeks, looking in good condition fitness-wise. We created chances against a good team today, and the rustiness from not finishing them will wear away in the weeks to come."

Speaking about Alana Murphy’s return to the pitch following her injury last season, Iain was full of praise for the forward: “It’s been a tough year for Alana. Since being injured in pre-season last year she’s been itching to get back and she looked sharp.

"It was good to see her get those minutes under her belt today, and she’ll be hitting the ball into the back of the net again for us in no time.”