Emily Nuttall
Women’s Football
Uni 7 – 0 Met

On Wednesday newly promoted LUUWAFC 1sts started their season with a 7-0 win against rivals Leeds Met writes club captain Emily Nuttall.
Hoping to improve on a disappointing display at Varsity, the Gryphons started the game with a quick succession of Uni goals. Centre back Billie Murphy made a powerful run through the Met midfield before finishing from outside the box. Both Kasia Lipka and Natalie Brace followed with neatly finished goals.
It was evident to all that Uni centre midfielders Lipka and Lauren Griffiths dominated the pace throughout the game, linking well with strikers Abbie McIver and Sophia Piotrowska.
McIver’s excellent pace was a constant threat to the Met defence and it wasn’t long before she converted this pace into a goal after some nice build-up play from the Uni midfield.
Piotrowska’s ambitious attempt at an overhead kick went narrowly wide, but it wasn’t long until the striker was on the scoresheet just before the half time whistle.
Going into the second half 5-0 up, Uni aimed to keep a clean sheet and maintain the pressure on the Met defence. The pace of the game dropped a little in the second half, with Uni maintaining possession but struggling to convert their play into another goal.
Nevertheless, the Uni pressure eventually paid off as Griffiths successfully converted a penalty kick following a tackle more suited to the rugby field on Natalie Brace. Player of the game Kasia Lipka concluded the scoring for Uni half way through the second half as the Uni defence continued to uphold any attack given to them from Leeds Met.
Uni captain Rosie Stone expressed her delight at the 7-0 win: “This is a fantastic result for a newly promoted team and we will now look to push on and keep our form when we face Manchester Met 1sts at home next week.”

Author: Emily Nuttall