Bedford: The Result Didn’t Reflect The Game
- LCFC Women beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa on Sunday
- Rachel Daly and Emily Gielnik net on Filbert Way
- Foxes manager Lydia Bedford assesses the game
- She believes City’s performance warranted more
Rachel Daly’s third-minute penalty handed the visitors an early lead and it remained that way until four minutes from the end, when Emily Gielnik doubled Villa’s lead and ensured they would claim victory.
It was the Foxes who had pressed and attacked for the majority of the contest, but were unable to find a breakthrough against their Midlands rivals, much to Bedford’s frustration.
“We’re disappointed to come away from the game with nothing,” she reflected to LCFC TV post-match. “It’s a punishment to concede a second goal in the last part of the game when we’re pushing for an equaliser, but I think we did the right thing in trying to push for it.
“I felt for the whole of the first half we were the better team by far, we dominated the game bar the penalty. We were on top and created far more chances, but just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“So, I’m pleased with the first half and I really encouraged them to go out and show a similar level of energy. I think we dropped off our energy a little bit in the second half but we were competitive throughout and I don’t think the scoreline reflects the game whatsoever.”
Although without a point or a goal in their opening two Barclays Women’s Super League matches, City’s manager has been encouraged by what she has seen from the team in the final third, with their play just missing the final piece of the jigsaw.
Bedford explained: “We’ve got to take real positives from that in the games moving forwards. Unfortunately for us today, that positive first-half performance didn’t end in an equaliser.
“We spoke to the players at half-time about the stats in that first half and the number of chances we had created. All you’ve got to do is put one of those in the back of the net and the game completely changes. That’s something we’ll reflect on.
“Therefore, we were building in the second half to get that, and we did enough to create chances, but weren’t clinical when given the opportunities and were punished in the final moments.”
The Foxes travel to Walton Hall Park to face Everton in a rearranged fixture on Thursday evening, their first away match of the season, looking to get up and running in the WSL, with the possibility for the whole squad to be utilised.
Bedford added: “You want players out on the pitch to see what they can do and today Demi Vance has debuted and there’s been a number of players changed throughout the game. I think it’s important to give players an opportunity to try and impact for us and that’s what we tried to do with the subs today.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the goals to link with those subs, but we’ve got to go again. We’ve got a game on Thursday, so it’s a quick turnaround and we’ve got to make sure we pick ourselves up.”