City Reserves through to next round of cup

Norwich Ladies Reserves turned their attention to the second round of the League Cup this week and progressed into round three with a 2-0 win over Hoddesdon.

Having not played last week, Norwich were a little rusty in the first quarter of the game; however, they started to pass the ball around more intelligently after that and the Hoddesdon keeper had to be on her toes to keep out a couple of goal-bound efforts.

Norwich mounted a number of promising attacks on the away goal, but the score remained 0-0 at half-time.

After the break, Norwich completely dominated the game, which led to Hoddesdon becoming more and more physical in their attempts to prevent good football.

Norwich’s patient approach eventually paid off when some excellent wing play by Nic Sheldrake set up Gemma Farman, whose shot on the turn near the penalty spot flew in past the keeper.

Norwich continued to put together attack after attack and Sophie Fuller was unlucky to hit the post following a mazy dribble past three defenders in the penalty area.

A lack of concentration at the back from Norwich led to Hoddesdon turning defence into attack and a shot from outside the area nearly crept in.

However, shortly afterwards, Norwich converted their domination of the game into a second goal when a diagonal cross from Flo Pollock was not dealt with by the Hoddesdon keeper and Sophie Fuller was on hand to steer the ball into the back of the net.

The final score did not reflect the supremacy of the Norwich performance; however, a superb defensive performance by the Hoddesdon number 6 was a significant factor in this.

Player of the match was Sophie Fuller, having turned in an impressive display as second striker; however, a special mention must go to Amy Edwards, who gave a very competent performance as stand-in goalkeeper.