By Match report: Grimsby Town Women claim comeback victory over Sleaford Ladies
Grimsby Town Women came from behind to maintain their 100% start to the season against Sleaford Ladies at Oasis Wintringham on Sunday.
Goals from Ellie Wilson and Danielle Brighton handed the Mariners a 2-1 victory in the battle between the league’s top two sides.
Sleaford started the game strongly and took the lead just four minutes into the contest. A ball played in behind cut through the Grimsby defence, before the visitors’ striker beat keeper Beth French to the ball and put her side ahead.
But the Mariners responded well to the early set-back and levelled up the score with 14 minutes on the clock. An excellent move saw Laura Ibbert and Emily Blyth link up, with the latter laying the ball onto Beth Wharton in the middle, who found the on-rushing Wilson in space and she placed the ball into the far-left corner.
The remainder of the half was closely-fought in the centre of the park, with both teams cancelling each other out and rarely troubling either goalkeeper.
The game continued in a similar vein after the break, as the only chances for either team resulted in relatively straightforward saves for the keepers.
It quickly livened up towards the end of the match, though. With five minutes left on the clock, Brighton sent the Grimsby bench into raptures when she grabbed the winner.
She latched onto Alisha DeJonge’s through ball and slotted home into the bottom left corner beyond the reach of the keeper to make it 2-1.
A straight red card three minutes later meant Sleaford were forced to finish the game with just 10 players on the field.
The away side kept pushing for an equaliser but after playing eight minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle and Town secured their third straight victory in the league this season.
Speaking after the game to the club’s website, manager Hayley Cox said: “It was a tough performance today, with the game in the balance for either team. To go 1-0 down was disappointing, we gifted them a goal but credit to the ladies for keeping up their determination and motivation to come back the way they did against a team who will be battling with us for promotion.
“There were some outstanding performances throughout the team but Beth Wharton, with her work rate and assist to create the first goal was an exceptional pass, and our second goal was well worked between Alisha DeJonge and stand-in captain Danielle Brighton.”
Grimsby Town Women are back in action next Sunday at home in the County Cup to Grimsby Borough. The game will kick-off at 2pm at Oasis Wintringham.
