Lincoln City Women were forced to settle for a point after conceding in the last minute to Sutton Coldfield Town.
It took just five minutes for the deadlock to be broken, however it was the travelling team that did so. Forward Lois Jefferies smashed the ball into the top right corner, leaving the Imps with work to do.
City responded well to going behind, having the majority of possession. Maddi Green delivered a dangerous ball from a corner that was cleared off the line by a Sutton Coldfield defender.
Minutes later, Leah Hardy took an audacious free kick from 30-yards out which was spilled by keeper Neve Jones. The opposition did well to clear the ball away from danger.
In the 25th minute it was the same story. Leah Hardy from nearly 35-yards out took a pop at goal, forcing Jones to parry it out for a Lincoln corner.
Just one minute before half-time, City found the equaliser. Another perfect delivery by Green from a corner met Faith Horner’s head which saw the ball nestle into the bottom corner.
The Royals had an injury scare after Chloe Handy was on the receiving end of a well-timed tackle by Millie Quaintance. Handy carried on, but in the 61st minute a beautifully slotted ball by Jemima Footitt into the path of substitute Lucy Farrow put the Imps in front.
Farrow had to stretch to meet the ball, but a tiny touch was enough to see the ball trickle over the line.
Then, Lincoln almost made it three. Green’s free-kick was again spilled by Jones and into the path of Hardy who blasted it over the top of the bar from just three-yards out.
City had to see out the remainder of the game with ten players after Green received a second yellow for kicking the ball away.
In the dying seconds of the game, youth debutant Phoebe Hopwood hit a clean volley on the edge of the box, ripping into the side netting to rescue her side a valuable point on the road.
Post-match reaction:
After the game, goalscorer Faith Horner said: ‘‘I honestly don’t know how we’ve not got three points there. The performance was probably the best we’ve had all season, everyone worked hard especially on that pitch it’s heavy on the legs.’’
When asked about getting on the scoresheet, the midfielder said: ‘‘I’m happy, but the result is what it is.’’
Imps manager Lee Mitchell also shared the same opinion stating that ‘‘there was only one team in it.’’
He added: ‘‘They were just camped in their own defensive third most the time, long balls out the back to nowhere. It’s just poor really, we need to finish our chances, you go 3-1 it’s game over.’’
The Lincoln boss praised the performance, building on what he described as a game with “more positives than negatives” last weekend against Sporting Khalsa.
‘‘Performance wise it’s some of the best football I’ve seen, it’s been coming for weeks now our performances have been really good. They couldn’t handle the way we played, to us it feels like a loss, to them it feels like a win,’’ Mitchell said.
Lincoln City Women will turn their attention to next Thursday as they host Sheffield FC, seeking vital points in a busy period of the season.
Feature Image Credit: Graham Burrell