BURTON Albion finished the season on the right side of a blockbuster nine-goal thriller against Coundon Court.
Goals from Millie Drinkhall, Sophie Richards, and Alice Lilley saw the Brewers finish a succesful season with a 5-4 victory.
With manager Joe Kirkland left with just one fit defender, Sophie Richards, in the matchday squad, there was a need for several players to play out of position. Kirkland stuck to a back three despite the changes.
Coundon’s first chance came in the second minute. Sophie Shale managed to get to a loose pass just ahead of Katie Jubb, and prodded the ball through to Jess Lundie, who was clean through on goal. Olena Tatarczuk came out to close the angle and was happy to see Lundie steer the ball past the upright.
The Brewers were behind just a few minutes later. In trying to play out from their own goal kick, Lundie tackled Emily Gillott and the loose ball was picked up by Megan Holdcroft, who played it back across the goal where LUNDIE was able to tap home from close range.
Coundon looked to press home their advantage, with the Brewers finding it difficult to get out of their own half. They got their reward in the 16th minute. A half clearance from Richards fell to Shale. She turned the ball to LUNDIE, who cut inside Gillott and passed the ball into the corner of the net.
Within two minutes the Brewers had halved the deficit. A throw in from Shanae Thomas was controlled by Alice Lilley in the penalty area. After dribbling past a defender her shot was blocked, but fell back to her feet. LILLEY then turned onto her left foot and managed to shoot as she fell to the floor, with the ball going under the left hand of Megan Donohoe in the Coundon goal.
Despite scoring, Kirkland switched to a back four in an attempt to create a greater attacking threat. This worked, with the Brewers looking much more in control than they had in the early parts of the game, although the game was still open and both sides looked dangerous on the attack.
The scores were level just before the half hour mark. Louise Price intercepted a loose Lundie pass and played the ball wide to Hajrah Mahmood, who turned and played a perfectly weighted pass in behind the Coundon defence. It was LILLEY who made the run to break clear and her powerful first time shot flew past Donohoe.
The Brewers created another great chance not long after their second goal. A quick break from a Coundon corner saw the ball played to Lilley. She ghosted past her marker and played the ball through to Elisha Gourlay, who then looked to release Mahmood. Donohoe in the Coundon goal rushed out and was able to stop the attempt on goal and smother the rebound.
HALF-TIME: BURTON ALBION 2-2 COUNDON COURT
The Brewers started the second half well and created the first goalscoring opportunity. Lilley won the ball off a Coundon defender and played it to Mahmood on the edge of the penalty area. She struck her shot well, but it drifted a little too high and hit the top of the crossbar and went out for a goal kick, with Donohoe well beaten.
In the 55th minute, the Brewers took the lead for the first time in the match. Skye Lakin-Wright played the ball to Millie Drinkhall some distance from goal on the left hand side. DRINKHALL brought the ball under control and fired a long range shot that sailed over the ‘keeper and into the goal, in what will surely be a goal of the season contender.
It wasn’t long until Coundon were level. Again it was the forward line of Lundie and Shale, but this time the roles were reversed. Lundie played an excellent ball through for SHALE, who was able to get beyond stand-in centre back Beth Naqwi and fire a shot from the edge of the area that rocketed into the top corner.
Coundon then retook the lead. Shale and Lundie combined well on the edge of the Brewers penalty area, before Shale played the ball wide to HOLDCROFT and her first time finish nestled into the corner of the net.
The Brewers equalised in the 83rd minute. A Sophie Richards free-kick from midway into the Coundon half crashed off the crossbar and the ball bounced down back into danger. Gillott closed down the attempted clearance and the ball fell to LILLEY, who turned the ball in for her hat-trick.
Coundon had a great chance to retake the lead when Lundie’s back heel found Asya Osman free on the left. Her cross was met by Shale, but the first time effort was well saved by Tatarczuk.
It was the Brewers who scored the decisive ninth goal of the game. Lilley’s corner to the back post was well met by RICHARDS and her looping header dropped just underneath the crossbar for her first goal of the season, which couldn’t have come at a better time.
FULL-TIME: BURTON ALBION 5-4 COUNDON COURT
Despite conceding four goals, Brewers’ manager Kirkland was pleased with the performance and result, saying "To go two goals down, and then to come back and win 5-4 in any match is pretty incredible. We had five players out of position and one defender in our entire squad, so the result is significant. We weren't happy with our first half performance, more so with how we started the match after gifting them two early goals, but the key thing is how you react to that, and the reaction second half was incredibly positive. We've not had any luck all season, today we hit the crossbar on a few occasions, and had a couple of deflections which led to goals, so it's about time something went our way."
Albion: Tatarczuk, Gillott (c), Richards, Naqwi, Mahmood, Jubb, Gourlay, Lakin-Wright (Price 74), Thomas (Drinkhall 35), Lilley (Oliff 89), Price (Hoyle 35)
Goals: Albion – Lilley (18, 29, 83), Drinkhall (55), Richards (89); Coundon Court – Lundie (7, 16), Shale (60), Holdcroft (67)
