Oxford’s
ladies lost for the first time since the opening day of the season as
they were knocked out of the League Cup by Swindon Town. Maybe they
have been distracted by their incredible FA Cup run, or perhaps they
were missing the presence of captain Sahara Osborne-Ricketts who was
sidelined after picking up an injury last
week, but this definitely had the feel of an ‘After the Lord
Mayor’s Show’ performance.
The
opening exchanges were very even as each side tried to get to grip
with the other's contrasting style of play, with Oxford playing their
usual passing game while Swindon chose a more direct route. Twice
United got the wrong side of the Swindon defence, only to be foiled
by the linesman's flag. And the Oxford defence which had looked so
strong last weekend appeared nervous when faced with a barrage of
probing long balls up to Swindon's pacey front two.
It
was Swindon who broke the deadlock after being awarded a soft
free-kick on the left-hand side. The ball in was inch perfect and
Collings rose high above the Oxford defence to power in the opener
against the run of play.
The
Oxford girls stayed calm after the set-back and stuck to their game
and began to create some chances of their own. Striker Lauren Allison
was presented with a glorious chance to level when she latched on to
a beautiful defence-splitting pass from Dan Anderson, but Swindon
keeper Robyn Levett saved with her legs.
The
equaliser did come, however, before half-time and it was remarkably
similar to Swindon's opener. A ball in from the right-hand side found
Allison in acres of space in front of goal and she duly nodded in to
send the sides in all-square at half time.
Oxford
started the second half on the front foot, but it wasn't long before
Swindon started pushing them back and United struggled to get out of
their own half. And it was during this spell that Swindon retook the
lead from another set-piece. A corner was cleared at the first
attempt but then found its way back into the United area and onto the
head of Kim Reeves and past goalkeeper Hannah Cox.
Oxford
tried to find a way back into the match but never found their stride.
As the game wore on they were forced to press forward more and they
were punished when Swindon struck again on the counter-attack. A
simple long ball through the middle of the defence found Kirsty Shell
onside and she lobbed the ball over the onrushing Cox to extend the
visitors' lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Oxford
then finally clicked into gear and produced their finest move of the
match. A great sequence of passing football completely exposed the
Swindon defence before Natasha Caswell laid it on a plate for
Allison, who coolly slotted past the Swindon keeper for her second of
the afternoon.
But
any hopes of a revival were short-lived when some calamitous
defending allowed Swindon's Abbie Picton to stroll through United's
right-hand side and fire in from a tight angle. 4-2 and the game was
essentially over, but there was still time for Allison to miss
another one-on-one and for Swindon to come inches from a fifth when a
thunderous shot struck the crossbar and bounced on the line to be
gathered by the grateful Cox.
The
Oxford players were all visibly disappointed at the final whistle,
but there were still positives to be taken from the game. We were
easily the better side on the ball, but just got dragged down into
playing a scrappy game which suited Swindon more. Lauren Allison
looked impressive and very dangerous up front (though she needs to
get a firmer grip on her temper after picking up a silly booking for
backchat) and could have finished the day with four goals. And while
the defeat is disappointing it's hardly a tragedy to be out of the
League Cup while the league title is still up for grabs and the FA
Cup campaign is still very much alive. They have to recover quickly
though, as they travel to Keynsham Development next week for their
first league match in a month.
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