Sholing Women 3-0 Reading Women: Match Report

Although it was a losing start to the season for the Royals, there were reasons to be positive.

A clinical 3-0 first-half lead from Sholing Women was enough for the home side to take all three points against a Reading Women team at the start of their transformation - as they attempt to rebuild, after hitting rock-bottom in the summer.

There are a lot of reasons to feel angry about how Reading Women have ended up where they are today - in Tier 5 - but none of this anger can be (nor should be) aimed at this young squad of players and new management team, who will only learn from this result and continue to grow, develop and become stronger as the season plays out.

Although the scoreline doesn’t reflect it, there were a lot of promising signs to take from this performance - as I’m sure new manager Pedro Bruno will echo later.

For those who don’t know the plight Reading Women find themselves in, it’s worth adding some context to Sunday’s game:

• Under the current ownership, the team have largely been disassociated from club funding and have been rescued, funded and adopted by The Community Trust: including paying for the players’ subscription fees this season
• The current squad of assembled players have only been together for a few weeks
• Training is twice a week, with their base at Arbour Park, Slough Town
• With no time for pre-season friendlies (compare this to other teams in the league, some of whom had as many as eight), manager Bruno has been trying to get the girls together at the SCL Dome to get them playing together
• There’s no longer a team bus: the players, like the fans, had to make their own way to Eastleigh
• There are currently only 14 players registered in total, as per the FA website
• Just 13 squad numbers have been announced by Reading Women
• It’s a young squad, with at least seven of the team stepping up from academy football
• There were only 12 players available on Sunday (with Samantha Sehejpal and Sumaya Zayadi missing from the squad) and newly registered Leylah Ali starting, but not for long, on the bench (and wearing the number nine shirt)

If this wasn’t tough enough already, a hamstring injury to centre-back Laura Palfrey, in the opening minutes, saw Ali enter the field of play, and meant Reading had to play the remaining 85 minutes, plus time added on, with no substitutes available. This was against an opposition who not only had substitutes available but were also allowed multiple rolling changes: as allowed in the Southern Region of the Women’s Football League.

Perhaps also unsurprisingly, the Royals played a fair amount of the second half with only 10 players: with both Zuzanna Gajzler and Santearna Spencer needing some recovery time off the pitch before returning into battle.

Team: Mia Donovan (GK), Lily Brooke, Tia Lee, Laura Palfrey, Rosie Robinson, Santearna Spencer, Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins, Caitlin Levy, Mia Bradley, Zuzanna Gajzler, Keira Morl

Sub: Leylah Ali

It was Sholing that started the match brightly and, in the opening minutes, with an early warning of things to come, had a shot fired wide, a goal disallowed for a tight offside call, and forced a fine save from Reading goalkeeper Donovan, after the Sholing striker found room for a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area.

It was two early first-half corners from Sholing which inflicted the most damage to the Royals, making it an uphill struggle from there - if it wasn’t already.

With just six minutes on the clock, the home side won their first corner of the match, which saw Sholing’s Phoebe Hudson curl the ball directly into the far corner of the Reading goal. 1-0.

A second corner from Sholing extended their lead when the Reading defence failed to clear, the ball played across the Royals’ six-yard box, leaving Kat Littleboy with a tap-in from close range. 2-0.

In between, Reading probably had their best chance of the match when striker Ali controlled and laid the ball off nicely to Reading captain Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins, whose shot was powerful but off target.

The third goal came just before the half-time whistle, Sholing pressuring the Reading defence and making room for Katie Shorter to unleash a fierce shot from outside of the penalty area, with the Reading goalkeeper getting a hand to it but unable to prevent it from hitting the back of the net. 3-0.

Although the game was probably beyond the reach of a Royals comeback - the team often down to 10 players for large parts of the second half - there was a lot to be proud of in resilience, effort and some great passing play: but with little to show at the end of some great build-up movement.

There’s no doubt that there’s some real talent in this team and that they will only improve as they learn how to play alongside each other, as well as getting valuable learning and understanding of what will be a largely competitive Tier 5, Southern Region League.

It was a committed performance all round, lead from the front by captain Hoesli-Atkins (‘Jordon’), in performance and vocal leadership - and who looks a real catch and asset to the team.

I’m sure the players will also have been buoyed by the sight of a good, loud and vocal away following - from the ‘Loyal Royals’ (flags proudly displayed).

Although the match finished with biblical rainfall storms, it didn’t stop the soaked-through fans from staying until the very end and clapping the players off, as they headed back to the dryness of the changing room - deservedly with their heads held high.

Next Sunday, September 15, is another new experience for fans and players alike, with the inaugural home match at Arbour Park, Slough, against Oxford City, 2pm kick-off.

A lot can happen in a week, so with some well-earned rest, training and development (and maybe with some new and much-needed additions to the squad) there’s a lot to look forward to next weekend - see you there!