Reds Weekly Round Up! Week 7

 It's been a long 8 weeks since we played our last league game against Birmingham City. Tomorrow night we play Arsenal Ladies at Halton Stadium, Widnes in a 7pm KO that will be screened live on BT Sport.

 Here is the final weekly round up (until the end of the season);

• Fara Williams was in last Sunday's Mirror commenting on the upcoming Arsenal game and the disappointment of crashing out of the Euros early.
  
  "I've felt very low since we went out of the Euros, but being back with my Liverpool team mates has given me a big lift."
  
  "We had a massive boost from beating Arsenal at their place, and if we can do it again on Saturday that will give us the confidence to go on and win the league."

• Louise Fors has been updating her website this week, giving it a makeover in time for the second half of the season! The blogs are a great insight to what it's like living in Liverpool and playing for the club, I really recommend that you go and check out a few of them.
  
  Louise Fors' Official Website 

• Last week there were rumours of a number of Liverpool players leaving the club, one of those has been confirmed this week as Hannah Keryakoplis who has gone to play for Stoke. Hannah made her debut for the Potters this week and scored on her debut.
  
  Keryakoplis was our joint top scorer last season and made 18 appearances. However this season has found opportunities limited. Good luck at Stoke Hannah!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Liverpool Ladies first game back against Arsenal will be shown live on new channel BT Sport, if you have BT Broadband this channel is free and you can subscribe by going to channel 413.
  
  Full details on how to get BT Sport are here: http://www.bt.com/sport/
  
  Anyone unable to watch BT Sport I am sure there will be a live stream link and will share that as soon as I find one on Twitter!
• Today came the news that at the end of the season defender Whitney Engen will leave Liverpool for Swedish side Tyreso FF. There she will join a number of previous and international team mates. There are conflicting reports on Twitter as to whether this is purely over the off-season or a permanent deal.
  
  Tyreso put an official statement on their website, which when translated by Google gave us gems such as "American country impact jaw Whitney Engen is ready for the club". Luckily Katja (@applessqabbles on Twitter) has translated this again for us so it makes a little more sense, you can find that here: Tyreso statement. 

• Ahead of the season starting up again, manager Matt Beard has given a great interview to the official LFC website which you can read here: Matt Beard: "Don't expect another rout"

Thanks for reading this weeks weekly round up, hope to see you at Halton tomorrow night!

PS One last thing, the latest issue of LFC magazine is duo out next week and should feature Amanda Da Costa's regular column.

@LFCLadiesFans

Match Report: Liverpool Ladies 3 - 2 Lincoln Ladies

 Yesterday's FA Women's Super League tie seen Lincoln Ladies travel to Liverpool's Halton Stadium. Both sides were forced to make changes to their back lines, Lincoln's Casey Stoney out with injured and Whitney Engen away for us on international duty. Lucy Bronze moved into the centre of defence with Becky Easton returning to the starting line up at right back.

 It was a nervy start from the reds which was further impounded when captain Gemma Bonner went down with a head injury and had to leave the pitch for stitches. With Liverpool down to 10 players Lincoln were gifted a chance when Carla Cantrell seized on a back pass to make it 0-1. Once Bonner returned to the field Liverpool grew in confidence, Fara Williams and Katrin controlled the midfield and we really began to dominate possession. Ten minutes after the Lincoln goal Natasha Dowie fired in her 8th goal of the season so far and should have won a penalty towards the end of the first 45. Louise Fors also had another brilliant game down the left and her free kick just before half time ricocheted  off the cross bar.

 Liverpool began the 2nd half the way they finished the first - dominating the possession and our midfield controlling the game. Nicole Rolser attracted a lot of fouls from Lincoln, who were probably frustrated by her skills down the right wing. Liverpool took the lead when a Fara Williams shot/ cross deflected into the goal off the defender and shortly afterwards Louise Fors scored a well deserved goal to give us a 2 goal cushion. Lincoln then pulled a goal back, Squantrill had no chance against Precious Hamilton's strike from outside the box. Hamilton's goal gave Lincoln an injection of confidence in the latter stages of the game but Liverpool hung on and substitute Lillie Billson was unlucky not to extend our lead with a great chance. In injury time Lincoln won a corner which even their goalkeeper Karen Bardsley came up for but Liverpool cleared with ease.

 Some points from the game:

• On the whole our defence coped well without Whitney Engen. After the shaky start they grew into the game and were not at fault for Lincoln's second.
• Our midfield is really beginning to boss games. Williams and Katrin controlling with Rolser, Fors and Da Costa providing the flair.
• Natasha Dowie is in superb form at the moment, netting her 8th goal in 10 games for the reds. An England call up is surely due. 
• Some of the numbers on the back of the shirts are turning pinker by the weeks!

 POTM: Louise Fors/ Natasha Dowie. Can't choose between them!

 Liverpool: Quantrill, Easton, Bronze, Bonner (c), Schroder, Williams, Katrin, Rolser, Da Costa (Billson 79), Dowie.  Unused subs: Gibbons, Chappell, Holbrook, Riccio

This result seen us go joint top of the league with Bristol Academy, however they were beaten 3-2 by Arsenal tonight meaning we go top on goal difference! Our next game is on Tuesday 4th  June and it is derby day away at Everton! Everton play their home games at Marine FC's ground in Crosby. It's a great little stadium, you can get tickets on the gate Adult £5, Child £2.50 and Adult/ Child ticket £6.

 Should have the Everton match preview up in the next couple of days, thanks for reading.

Match Preview: Liverpool Ladies v Lincoln Ladies & The FA Cup Final (BAWFC v ALFC)

 This Wednesday Lincoln Ladies make the trip to Halton Stadium in search of their first league win this season. This game sees the start of a busy couple of weeks for Liverpool, for more information please see my previous blog here.


 Liverpool go into this game sitting 3rd in the league but with a game in hand over second placed Chelsea. We have played three away games since our last game at Halton, the first of which being an emphatic 4-0 win over reigning champions Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. This ended Arsenal's unbeaten league run which dated back to July 2011. People pointed to the fact Arsenal had a few players out injured but there was only two changes to the starting line up that beat us a couple of weeks earlier at Anfield. From the match reports and the two minute highlights video we get, Liverpool were clearly the more clinical team on the night coupled with top class defending unlike the Gunners. Whitney Engen's goal line clearance could be watched over and over again and you would still be in awe every time! Amanda Da Costa scored the first two goals of her Liverpool career, Natasha Dowie and Louise Fors grabbed the other two.

 After the Arsenal victory it was back to London again looking for a third straight league win, a win over Chelsea would have kept us at the top of the table. Liverpool started brightly taking and early lead through Whitney Engen (or Egan if you're the commentator on the  FAWSL highlights video) and Nicole Rolser's goal bound strike was only just tipped over by the Chelsea keeper. Jakobsson equalised for Chelsea shortly before half time. Liverpool sustained their first half pressure after coming out for the second half, however despite a clear foul on Whitney Engen in the build up Chelsea took the lead with an Eni Aluko goal. Great goalkeeping from Linn prevented Liverpool from getting a goal back the game finished 2-1 Chelsea.

 The third of our games seen us at Chelsea for a second weekend running, this time in the Continental Cup with Liverpool needing just a point to reach the semi finals. From the whistle Liverpool were never just looking for a point and quickly wreaked revenge on Chelsea. Nicole Rolser finally scored her first Liverpool goal, an in form Natasha Dowie scored twice bringing her season tally up to an impressive 7 goals in 9 games and Fara Williams rounded off the scoring with a brilliant free kick. The 4-0 victory seen us qualify for the semis in style at the top of our group and set up a semi final at Halton Stadium against Lincoln Ladies to be played 7th/8th August.

 Onto the opposition then; Lincoln have had a mixed start to their season. They have done brilliantly in both cup competitions, only getting knocked out of The FA Cup in the semis against Bristol and setting up a Continental Cup semi against us despite their tough group of Arsenal, Bristol and Birmingham. They have yet to win a game in the league however and will no doubt be in search of 3 points in this game. Of their last 5 games they have lost just once and if not for a wonder goal from Steph Houghton, Lincoln could have claimed Arsenals second league defeat of the season.

 Lincoln have quite a young side but also boast the experience of England captain Casey Stoney and England No 1 Karen Bardsley amongst their ranks. Jess Clarke will be a constant attacking threat on the wing, providing the service for front woman Carla Cantrell. Our previous game against Lincoln at Sincil Bank was won by a Natasha Dowie goal and finished 1-0, this game should be a similarly close encounter.



The  FA Cup Final

 To verge off topic from  Liverpool now, yesterday I attended The FA Cup Final to see Bristol attempt to overcome Arsenal. It was a fantastic day out in Doncaster. I always love meeting fellow supporters and during the game I sat with 4 Arsenal supporters whilst silently hoping for a Bristol win! The game itself was good, I was disappointed with Bristol's Laura del Rio starting on the bench but apparently she was carrying an injury and she did come on with about 15 minutes to go.

 Arsenal opened the scoring within 2 minutes to immediately put Bristol on the back foot. Bristol's defence was poor and it was only thanks to an excellent performance from Bristol goalkeeper Siobhan  Chamberlain that the scoreline was kept to less than what it could have been. Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs gave a great performance and deservedly won player of the match. Bristol's travelling support also deserves a mention for continuing to sing despite their team being 3-0 down. The only dampeners on the day were Lucy Staniforth's injury and the treatment of the Doncaster Belles supporters. More on that can be found here.

 Highlights of my day included hearing the Bristol supporters singing "4-0 at The Emirates" to the Arsenal team as they got off their bus, Alex Scott spying my Liverpool shirt and saying "oh no don't remind me about that" and finally two 5 year old Arsenal supporters asking me what drug testing was thanks to Grace McCatty!

 While I thoroughly enjoyed the final I would obviously have preferred to have seen Liverpool there but there is always next year and we still have the Continental Cup to play for!


Hope to see a few of you at the game on Wednesday, KO is 7:30pm and as always tickets available at the gate for a fiver!

Liverpool Ladies 1 – 2 Arsenal Ladies, FA Cup Semi Final Match Report

 Liverpool exited the FA Cup this evening with a fighting performance against Arsenal Ladies. There are lots of positives to take from the defeat, the team is really starting to settle as a group and last season who would have thought we would push Arsenal all the way in an FA Cup Semi Final!

 Liverpool bossed the midfield from the off. Katrin and Rolser in particular were impressive, Katrin nearly opened the scoring with her header going slightly wide of the post. Natasha Dowie was also a stand out performer, holding up play brilliantly in and around the 18 yard box. A great header on the stroke of half time from Dowie gave the Ladies a morale boost and it was a shame there wasn’t longer left to play in the first half.

 Liverpool started brightly in the second half and were unlucky to be caught on the break for the second Arsenal goal. Rolser spotted Byrne off her line and tried an audacious chip from 20 yards out that unfortunately sailed over the crossbar. Also unlucky in the second half was Amanda DaCosta - full of energy and seemingly all over the pitch – who went through on goal only to be thwarted by the Arsenal defence. Dowie almost snatched a second equalizer for Liverpool in injury time following a great ball into the box from Whitney Engen however it wasn’t to be.

 There was a 2000 strong crowd on The Kop, bit of a strange crowd – a lot of kids meant Arsenal players were getting booed. Booing opposition players is something I don’t condone at football games, the energy is best spent getting behind your own team! An amusing fight also broke out after someone threw a bottle onto the pitch when Arsenal scored their first goal.

 Other than that it was great to see the ladies play at Anfield in front of a large crowd. Fantastic to see Anfield traditions upheld, George Sephton being the ever-present Voice of Anfield, the playing of You’ll  Never Walk Alone as the teams walked out and a favourite of mine – clapping the opposing keeper as they run towards the Kop goal. Arsenal are a well-oiled machine and I wish them the best of luck in next month’s final.

 Next up for the reds we have Doncaster Belles in the Continental Cup. The game is due to be played Saturday 4^th May at Halton Stadium, Widnes and will kick off at 7:15pm. Ticket pricing is the same as this evenings game (£4 adults, £1 under 16’s) and tickets can be purchased on the day at the turnstiles.

 In other news today the FA has announced the 18 teams who will play in the restructured WSL next season. Liverpool have retained their WSL status and will play in the top tier of the competition. The two big changes for current WSL teams, Doncaster Belles will be in the second tier of the league having being replaced by Manchester City Ladies and Lincoln Ladies will be rebranded as Notts County. Highly disappointing for both sets of supporters and for women’s football.

From The FAWSL website;

The following clubs have been selected for FA WSL1:

Arsenal Ladies FC, Birmingham City Ladies FC, Bristol Academy Women’s FC, Chelsea Ladies FC, Everton Ladies FC, Notts County Ladies FC  (formerly known as Lincoln Ladies FC), Liverpool Ladies FC, Manchester City Ladies FC

The following clubs have been selected for FA WSL2:

Aston Villa Ladies FC, Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies FC, Durham Women's FC, London Bees Women's FC (Barnet FC), Millwall Lionesses FC, Oxford United Women's FC, Reading Women’s FC, Sunderland Women's FC, Watford Ladies FC, Yeovil Town Ladies FC

Match Preview: Arsenal Ladies

 Tomorrow evening Liverpool Ladies take on Arsenal in the FA Cup  Semi Final, looking to reach the final for the first time ever. Anfield will host the tie as the FA's choice of a 'neutral' venue. Tickets on the night will be £5 for adults, £2.50 concessions with the seating being unreserved on The Kop. The game is not televised so if you're in Liverpool get yourself down to support the girls and if you are unable to for whatever reason the official twitter will be live tweeting the game here. I will try my best to update my twitter whilst there however I don't hold much faith with the wifi at Anfield!

 Our opposition Arsenal are the team to beat in Women's football and are by far the biggest test we could face on route to a final. Since their foundation in 1987 they have won the FA Cup a record 11 times and for the past two season have been Women's Super League Champions. Their team boasts a number of established internationals including Women's Player of the Year Steph Houghton. Houghton is a remarkable attacking left back who you may remember from scoring 3 goals for Great Britain in last years Olympics. Striker Kelly Smith has not featured for Arsenal yet this season and so is a doubt to appear here. Other players to watch out for are attacking midfielder Jordan Nobbs and Rachel Yankey.

 To reach the semi-final Arsenal beat Birmingham 6-0 however have lost both games since, both to Wolfsburg whilst crashing out of the  Champions League. On the other hand Liverpool go into the clash unbeaten in all competitions despite a near-complete squad overhaul during the winter the team have won all but one of their games together. That game being the 1-1 at home to Everton in the Continental Cup. Liverpool acquired their place in the semi-final with two away wins, convincingly beating Aston Villa 5-0 and then a 2-1 win over current Premier League Champions Sunderland in the quarters. Despite Liverpool Ladies never reaching an  FA Cup Final before there is experience within the team, Fara Williams, Becky Easton and Natasha Dowie all won the cup while they were with Everton, Dowie scoring a great goal in the final.

 To play at Anfield will be brilliant for players and supporters alike and it promises to be a great occasion!

ESPN WSL Preview

 Tuesday nights ESPN WSL Preview featured interviews with Liverpool Ladies manager Matt Beard and new signings from our rivals Everton, Fara Williams and Natasha Dowie. For those who were unable to watch the show I have transcribed the interviews below!

Matt Beard "My job was to assess the current squad when I took over and look at replacing and starting all over again. We felt we needed that blend of domestic players as well as 1 or 2 internationals from abroad to give us that balance and I think we've managed to do that."

Matt on aspirations for the season "To be in the top half of the table - that's the minimum target we've got. I think we've got a squad that can beat anyone on its day but top half finish is a target to start off with and then anything above that will be a bonus."

Natasha Dowie "We had some great years at Everton, I was there for 4 years and won a lot of trophies with them. I felt like I needed a fresh lease of life and I've worked with Matt Beard before at Charlton. I heard of what he was planning on doing here at Liverpool and when I saw the talented players he was going to bring in from other clubs in the WSL and overseas I thought it was a team that was looking to achieve great things."

Natasha on team bonding "It just feels natural, we've been training every day it's been such a buzz and the girls have gelled so well. It's really exciting and we're all having such a great time here."

Natasha on aspirations for the season "I think deep down we've got the quality in this team, this squad to maybe make history here at Liverpool and I believe there can be special things this season for Liverpool Ladies."

Fara Williams "We've got players with international experience so they bring that kind of confidence that English players don't have. We have to hide what we want and what's wrong with putting it out there and saying we're going to go for it - that's what some of the foreign players have bought."