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It finally happened! All the hard work, all the missed chances, all the dramatic saves. This team was building to this and who cares if it’s a team like Yeovil. A win is a win is a win. Any win at this point is a good win and throw in a last gasp, injury time goal to seal it? Perfection.
Liverpool traveled to this weekend to Yeovil Town, standing pretty close to the bottom of the table after... well, a lot of losses. While it doesn’t look like the win has done a lot for their place on the table, it will hopefully have done loads for their confidence and show these girls that they truly can compete in the way that they want to. Outside forces be damned.
The game started with loads of fight, making chances early on. Jess Clarke gets a ball into Yeovil’s 18 yard box early on, going for Yana Daniels but the hosts dealt with it easily. It was 14 minutes when the best chance came as Liverpool won a free kick 25 yards out. Christie Murray stepped up to take it shot clear for the bottom corner, only to have it saved by Yeovil’s keeper Megan Walsh to start with some frustration.
Around 24 minutes, something went right when Megan Walsh took down Yana Daniels in the box and Liverpool were awarded a penalty. Our former Evertonian number 9 Courtney Sweetman-Kirk stepped up to take it and sent the ball where it belonged to put the Reds ahead.
From there it was all about maintaining the lead until the end of the half, naturally. Not our Reds’ strongest skill, to be fair, but they were able to defend well - including at the 42nd minute when back to back set pieces for Yeovil put some pressure on them, but the Reds defended without a hiccup.
Leading in the second half is not usually a thing the Women are used to, and went into it looking to add a bit of cushion. Leighanne Robe won the ball beautifully at 49 minutes to play in Sweetman-Kirk, who laid it off to Clarke. Clarke’s shot went wide but the chase for that second goal was on.
And then Yeovil equalized. Emily Donovan was able to catch onto a pass and send it just past Preuss. The game then became about chasing the win all over again and the Reds went into it with fervor. Shots after shots came, with Jess Clarke denied three times, Sweetman-Kirk and Leandra Little both kept out from scoring.
That second half was all Liverpool, as Yeovil did everything they could to defend that draw. Little even muscled her way through three defenders only to have her effort barely tipped over the bar. So many chances to take the lead until finally, stoppage time.
Four minutes were added to the end of the second half and it only took two for Sweetman-Kirk to find the right chance and shoot with everything she had to put Liverpool ahead at the last gasp of the game.
A win is a win but this kind of win will hopefully truly show these girls that they can keep doing what they’re doing - they have the fight, the spirit, the skill, and the will to win games. They just have to find that breakthrough and hopefully, this was it.
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