More cup heartbreak for Town
TASH Baptiste struck twice as Stoke City Women knocked Huddersfield Town Women out of their second cup competition in the space of eight days with a 3-1 win at the Stafflex Arena.
Having lost 4-1 to Ipswich in the FA Cup at the John Smith’s Stadium last Sunday, Town were determined to get back to winnings ways - the Terriers had won their seven previous games.
Manager Ashley Vickers criticised Town’s poor start against Ipswich in the previous game and so made changes against Stoke, bringing in Georgia Marshall and altering captain Charley Evans position to best suit the change of formation.
But those changes proved ineffective as the visitors executed their game plan perfectly. They took an early lead when a long ball split the Town defence and Baptiste’s shot challenged goalkeeper Olivia Clark, who could only palm the ball into the net.
Lucy Sowerby’s equaliser was the only moment of quality that Town produced in the match.
Ellie White and Kate Mallin struck the woodwork as the Terriers searched tirelessly for a route back into the match after Amy Hughes and Baptiste’s second gave Stoke a two-goal advantage, but it wasn’t to be.
Town will head to Staffordshire to face Stoke again next weekend as fixtures pile up, and despite their positive start to the season, it is threatening to be a campaign to forget for Town who find themselves fifth in the league and out of both major cup competitions just a month into the new year.
But there is still the County Cup to play for. The Terriers lost to Barnsley in the final last season and on Friday face Sheffield FC in the semi-final as Town strive to regain their crown.
DANNY Cowley has explained his top priority in working with new Town loan man Chris Willock.
The 22-year-old was Cowley’s final capture of the January transfer window, his paperwork being filed before deadline and then completed half an hour after the official end of trading.
Willock is a Benfica player, but was on loan at West Brom where he hasn’t played a game all season.
He wasn’t registered in time to play against Fulham on Saturday, where Town lost 3-2, but he’s now fully focused on training with Cowley’s squad ahead of the home Championship meeting with QPR on Saturday.
“Chris is a young boy we know really well from his time at Arsenal,”
He’s lost his way a little
bit but he’s a super talent and we are going to get him fit as quickly as we can