Liverpool Ladies Beat Durham in Penalty Shootout

Liverpool left New Ferens Park this weekend with two points, but most players were frustrated with their performance against Durham FC. The Continental Cup game saw 90 goalless minutes before moving to a penalty shootout to decide which team would earn the extra point.

Durham put up a well-disciplined performance and the Reds were unable to convert any of their (many, many) chances in regulation time. When the game went to penalties, however, Siobhan Chamberlain rose to the challenge and saved three of Durham’s spot-kicks. Liverpool won 5-4 on penalties.

“We’re frustrated and disappointed,” Casey Stoney said after the game. “We shouldn’t be coming to teams in lower leagues and not winning - we should set our standards a lot higher than that. I don’t think we performed as well as we could today, but I don’t think they had a shot on target.”

“We had so many entries into the final third and we had opportunities to create goal scoring opportunities, but we didn’t take them. Credit to them, they were very organised, very diligent in what they did and they have come away with a point, but it’s disappointing for us.”

The final third of the game saw efforts from Caroline Weir and Niamh Charles shot directly at Durham’s goalkeeper, and Bethany England and Laura Coombs shooting their efforts just wide of the goal.

“It was our final-third play that wasn’t good enough today; too many touches in the wrong areas, not playing the ball through, playing too many passes and then the wrong choice,” Stoney added. “A lack of quality has cost us in the end. Against teams where they do park the bus, you’ve got to move the ball around with quality and you’ve got to make sure you make the right decisions in the final third - unfortunately we didn’t do that.”

If you’re moping about the international break next weekend, you can watch Liverpool Ladies taking on Birmingham City on November 11. Kick-off is set for 5:30 PM GMT.