Sutton Coldfield Town 3-2 Lye Town

The Royals bounced back from their League Cup exit last week to overcome Lye Town

Sutton almost opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, when a looping effort by Freya Smith dropped
just over the top-corner of the far-post

After 4 minutes a well-executed counter-attack saw Lye have a 3-on-1 attack in their favour, however
the shot was taken early from outside the penalty-area and proved comfortable for goalkeeper
Charlotte McElroy

Chloe Finn forced a fine-save from the Lye goalkeeper after 13 minutes, who tipped the ball over the
crossbar at full-stretch

A minute later the keeper again did well, coming out to smother a shot from Brittany Civil at
close-range

In the 20th minute a free-kick from captain Ruth Graham flew just past the far-post, as no Sutton
player was able to glance the ball into the net

Good reading of the game by the Lye goalkeeper saw her quick off her line and able to clear the
danger, when a through-ball to Civil would otherwise have resulted in a 1-on-1

The deadlock was broken on 27 minutes when a shot from distance by Graham proved just too high
for the keeper, whose outstretched fingers were not enough to prevent the ball from dropping just
under the crossbar

Another good save from the Lye goalkeeper came on the half-hour mark, when she came out well to
keep out a shot from Chloe Handy

A well-worked corner routine almost saw Lye equalise after 38 minutes, however the ball sailed just
wide of the far-post

2 minutes later Finn hit a shot from outside the penalty-area that did not trouble the goalkeeper

A good delivery from a corner caused problems in the Lye defence in the 44th minute, and the ball
very nearly dropped over the line before being cleared away

HT - 1-0

2 minutes into the second-half Sutton created the first chance, when good work by Civil saw a chance
for Handy whose shot found the side-netting

Graham hit a shot against the near-post from a wide angle on 50 minutes, with the ball bouncing out
for a goal-kick

A few minutes later saw a free-kick delivered into the penalty-area by Graham headed straight at the
keeper

Handy went down in the penalty-area just past the hour-mark which resulted in a penalty, converted
by Graham

On 65 minutes a corner cleared to the edge of the box was fired over the crossbar by the Lye attacker

4 minutes later a yellow-card was shown to a Lye defender, and the resulting free-kick was flown just
over the crossbar by Graham

A through-ball to Handy was followed by a cool-finish to make the scoreline 3-0 with 15 minutes to
play

Aimee Taylor tried her luck from distance 2 minutes later but the shot was off-target

Finn showed good footwork to create a chance for herself 8 minutes from time, but the situation was
well-read by the Lye goalkeeper who came out to smother the shot well

A minute later Taylor also created a chance for herself, but again the keeper did well to stop the shot
down to her left

Yet another fine save from the Lye keeper came after 87 minutes, when Handy was played through
and saw her shot well-held

A free-kick from Taylor was tipped round the post by the keeper in the final minute of normal time

A good finish following a break saw Lye pull the game back to 3-1 in the 1st minute of stoppage-time

Graham had a shot from the edge of the penalty-area that went wide in the 3rd minute of
stoppage-time

Lye proceeded to go straight down the other end and pull the game back to 3-2 with the last action of
the game

FT - 3-2

Player-of-the-Match was Georgia Murphy, who won the ball back on multiple occasions and kept
possession under pressure throughout the game