Millwall supporters' club

In an afternoon where we saw every piece of weather possible from rain and hail to sunshine and rainbows, the Lionesses may not have found a pot of gold at the end of it, but something much more valuable instead. Their first win of the season.

 

Since early December and the defeat to Manchester United there has been a feeling growing around the Lionesses that their time was coming. A narrow defeat to Arsenal, a last-minute winner for Spurs and a draw with Sheffield Utd have shown that this vastly inexperienced group of girls at this level were starting to click.

 

Having arrived under a lot of press attention for their ‘Equality FC’ campaign to equalise the pay between male and female footballers, it was Lewes who were had the unequal amount of possession in the early part of the game, dominating the ball and moving it around comfortably amongst their back four.

 

Up stepped Lucy Fitzgerald. For a young player with a relatively small frame, she was not in the mood to be bullied on the pitch and in the 6th minute let the opposition know that they might have the ball, but if they came anywhere near the Lionesses area then there would be short and swift punishment. Standing firm, she sent her opposite number flying fairly and calmly walked away with the ball nonchalantly whilst leaving a trail of devastation behind. This was a sign of things to come.

 

In amongst a string of spectacular saves from Chloe Sansom half way through the first 45 minutes, Evie Clarke began to emerge from the Lionesses half on a swift counter attack. With Lucy Fitzgerald and Beth Lumsden marauding forwards on each side of her, it looked to be developing into a 3 on 3 scenario. Cynically, she was cut down in her prime and could only walk away with a free-kick for her efforts. This wouldn’t be the last time we saw Evie fouled cynically.

 

As the half progressed, the Lionesses came under mounting pressure from a series of Lewes corners. Mixtures of short corner routines, looped balls the far post and driven crosses were all met by a Lioness head or clutched and held onto by the formidable Sansom.

 

The media attention on the equality campaign was starting to bear resemblance to the pitch as the teams left the field 0-0 at the break.

 

For a first half that was full of passing and endeavour from Lewes and hard work and challenges from Millwall, the first 10 or so minutes of the second half failed to match the intensity from the first. It was only when Robert went down for Lewes and there was a break in play that both teams decided that the Fifth Round of the FA Cup was there for the taking. Robert was duly replaced by Paye in the 53rdminute and both teams set about booking their place against Liverpool in the next round.

 

Lewes were becoming increasingly frustrated at their lack of converting their possession into goals and started taking on even more long-range efforts, much to the delight of Sansom again in goal, who dealt with everything that come her was with consummate ease. 

 

For the first time on 65 minutes, it looked like the Lionesses fortitude had been broken down with the ball in the back of the net directly from a free kick on the edge of the box. Confusion rained down with the hail from the heavens as Lewes wheeled away in celebration and the Lionesses begged the referee to consult with his linesman. To their relief he did and a free-kick was awarded for a Lewes player in an offside position who had run across Sansom’s line of sight.

 

The Lionesses now had the bit between their teeth and a midfield combination of Lumsden, Fitzgerald and Bailes managed to magically combine to leave Bailes with a sighter from outside the area. The pressure was now swinging in Millwall’s favour. Their confidence was growing by the second.

 

Entering into the last part of the game, the competitiveness of both teams started to spill over and the earlier chopping down of Evie Clarke suddenly became the norm. With yellow cards flying around fairly for both teams, Bailes and Cowan in the book for Millwall and Kempson in the book for Lewes, it was a tasty last 10 minutes.

 

Eventually, the discipline got the better of Lewes and after a strong challenge from Clarke, Amy Taylor of Lewes let her temper get the better of her and petulantly kicked out at Clarke on the touchline after the ball had gone. The linesman was right there on the spot and confirmed Lewes’ worst fears to the referee that it was a straight red card. No complaints from Taylor who took her marching orders and left Lewes to play the last minutes down to 10.

 

Could Millwall capitalise on this advantage, could they finally get the result their endeavours had warranted, could they find a hero to fire them through?

 

In Chris Phillips’ wildest dreams he would never have predicted an injury time volley from his centre half Grace Neville in the Lewes penalty box. But that is what he and the hundreds of fans in attendance got. With a long ball into the box from captain Cowan, it bounced up nicely for Neville who volleyed with venom and impressive technique from just inside the Lewes box to smash the Lionesses into the 5thround.

 

Cue wild celebrations from the bench and the Lionesses on the pitch. This was really happening, the magic of the FA Cup was well and truly alive.

 

Phillips explained after the game, “I’ve known Grace for a long time and she’s always had a very good technique and she took the goal so sweetly. She has adapted well to a new position at centre back since she joined us, normally being a right back before.”

 

Millwall Lionesses now progress to the 5th round and play away at Liverpool Women. Phillips added, “We know they will be a tough test being a Super League side, but we have become hard to break down and I will get the girls in this week to recover and then we will sit down with the tapes and go over areas we can exploit.”

 

Who knows what will happen, but we can be sure that this result has been a long time coming and will certainly push the Lionesses on now to hopefully record more victories as the season progresses. Onwards and upwards.

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Millwall Lionesses Starting XI:

Sansom, Cowan ©, Neville, Priest, Cataldo, Lumsden (Mackie, 90), Bailes, Young, Rossiter (Harford, 82), Fitzgerald, Clarke

 

Millwall Lionesses unused subs: Stewart, Giddings, Ali

 

Lewes FC Women Starting XI:

Baker, Perry, McIntyre, Taylor (Sent off, 84), Rutherford, Kempson (Bergin, 72), Quayle, Paye (Robert, 52), O’Rourke, Rood, King

 

Lewes FC Women unused subs: Maloney, Wilson, Larkin, Lane

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Photo credit: Edward Payne (@EdwardPayne22)