Stourbridge 0-2 Sutton Coldfield Town Ladies

A typical County Cup match was played out against Stourbridge Ladies under difficult conditions and on a sloping muddy pitch that suited the home side’s style of play

The early exchanges saw Sutton slowly take control and start to create some half chances

As Sutton adjusted to the conditions they began to play their trade mark passing game

Sutton Coldfield Town’s grasp on the game became more evident as they forced several corners but unfortunately could not convert any of them into goals

A close and hard fought first 45 minute saw the teams go in at half time with the scores level at 0:0

Second half was a very different story, as playing up the slope Sutton began to find more space and time on the ball to create some clear goal scoring opportunities

Ruth Graham and Kerri Lovegrove went close on several occasions and it was only the excellent work of the Stourbridge keeper that kept the score at 0:0

65 minutes in, and a tactical switch to playing 3 up front brought dividends

After several corners and constant pressure on the Stourbridge goal, a direct free kick was awarded on the edge of the area. Chatters stepped up and hit a superb effort that cannoned off the bar

Then in the 71st minute the deadlock was at last broken when Ruth Graham hit a superb shot that flew into the net with the Keeper left stranded

Sutton Ladies seemed to grow in confidence at this stage and dominated the play with wave after wave of intricate passing moves

In the 80th minute Ruth Graham again broke free down the right and her cross was unfortunately turned into their own net by a Stourbridge defender

The last 10 minutes saw Sutton produce some fabulous football, despite the muddy sloping pitch, and could have scored more goals

Player of the match was Hayley Chatwin

Overall a great team performance by all the Sutton Ladies squad

Everyone worked hard and contributed to the result and they played some dazzling football at times

First team coach Kevin Stanbridge said ‘I am so proud of the whole team and how they all worked together. We played some very good football under testing conditions and stuck to our principles of passing the ball and keeping possession. It was also encouraging to see us experiment with playing out from the back. A well-deserved win against a strong and determined Stourbridge side.’