16.9.07 ... Women’s FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round ... CFC 1 v 1 Stoke Athletic ... KO 14.00 ... match report by Kirsty

Carterton Ladies continued their progress in this years Women's FA Cup with a positive result against Stoke Lane ladies from Bristol winning 2-1 The start of the game saw Carterton on the back foot once again and it took them a while to get into any rhythm. Stoke started much the brighter of the 2 teams and their wing play seemed to cause Carterton a number of problems in the early stages. As the first half went on the Stoke side became more and more of a threat and created a number of chances on the Carterton goal. Resolute defending from the Carterton back four in particular, Lorraine Kutcha and Kirsten Fagg restricted the Stoke forwards to long range efforts. When they did get in close Clare Crossman kept them at bay in the Carterton goal. After 30 minutes the Stoke pressure finally paid off when a speculative shot from one of the Stoke forwards saw Kirsten Fagg attempt to block the shot in the Carterton area however, in attempting to stop the ball from hitting her face the ball struck her arm and the referee awarded a penalty. The kick was expertly executed in off the post giving Stoke the advantage. Continued pressure from Stoke and more solid defending from Carterton left the score in Stokes favour at the break.

The second half saw a revitalised Carterton team take to the field and they were unlucky not to equalise straight from the kick off. This was to set the scene for the half and it was the turn of the Stoke side to find themselves on the back foot. Excellent defending on their part now kept Carterton at arms length. Ann Harvey became more and more prominent in the centre of the Carterton midfield and with an outstanding performance from Tracy McCue beside her their efforts began having a positive effect on the game. The continued pressure on the Stoke goal saw shots hitting the post and the bar but still not breaching the keeper in the Stoke goal. With 15 minutes to go a number of tactical switches were made to the Carterton formation and the impact was instantaneous. A well worked wide ball saw Lauren Spragg fire an effort in from the angle which completely deceived the Stoke keeper to level the scores. Stoke kept giving them reminders to think defensively and a number of breakaway attacks on the Carterton goal gave some cause for concern. The Carterton players stuck to their task which created a fitting finale to an excellent game. With 2 minutes remaining the ball fell to the impressive Ann Harvey in the Carterton midfield and her shot from the edge of the area was struck like an arrow towards the Stoke goal where it hit the inside of the upright and landed into the back of the net to put Carterton ahead. To their credit the Stoke players kept their heads up and pressed for an equaliser however, time was not on their side and the final whistle confirmed Carterton's progress into the next round of the cup.

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