It's no island in the sun - but City ladies don't mind

Chichester City and Shanklin had to play through monsoon-like conditions on the Isle of Wight - but City adapted best, winning 6-0 in FA Premier south-west one.
Lucie Challen was on target for Chi at ShanklinLucie Challen was on target for Chi at Shanklin
Lucie Challen was on target for Chi at Shanklin

But even that failed to stop the Green Army from registering another fine win and extending their lead at the top of the table, with all other games falling foul of the weather.

The match began in reasonable conditions and Chichester quickly began to exert pressure on their hosts, who had begun with just 11 players and no subs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ten minutes in City edged in front through top scorer Charley Wilson-Blakely. Cherelle Khassal surged down the left and swung a teasing ball into the area and Wilson-Blakely soared to power a header past stranded keeper Jess Taylor.

Within minutes the lead was doubled through a misjudgement by Shanklin defender Naomi Cooper. Chichester captain Becky Barron swung in a corner from the left which caused mayhem and Cooper inadvertently diverted the ball into her own net.

The weather continued to worsen and Chichester had Shanklin struggling to get out of their own half.

After the interval the rain was teeming down and the wind had freshened.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Shortly before the hour Shanklin’s Susan Cullen was forced off with an ankle injury, leaving them to play the rest of the game with only ten players.

Chichester took full advantage and it wasn’t long before Taylor was picking the ball out of her net as Molly Clark added a third. Again the dangerous Khassal was at the heart of it, bursting towards the box from the left to set up Clark for a shot into the top corner.

In the final quarter of the encounter Chichester firmly hammered the nails into the Shanklin coffin with three more goals to seal the win in great style.

Lucie Challen let fly with her trusty left boot and the shot flew into the top corner.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Laura Ingram and Jess Lewry had come off the bench and it was Lewry who added a fifth with time running out.

Gemma Woodford made a hash of a header back to her keeper and Lewry pounced on the loose ball and beat the onrushing Taylor.

The last word went to Challen in injury time with another sublime long-range effort.

Both teams must be applauded for their determination to complete the game in horrid conditions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

CCLFC: Wilson-Blakely, Alexandre, Ryan, Dowdell, Wilson-Blakely, Khassal, Barron, Cheshire, Clarke, Ambler, Challen. Subs: Lewry, Ingram.

ALAN PRICE

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking sports news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

Share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!