Norwich City 1-2 Boldmere St. Michaels
by Lucy Chen at The Nest for Impetus (28/11/23).
Above: The Norwich City squad gather round after the game. Photo: Norwich City Women.
Norwich City lost the battle of two tier four sides on Sunday in the FA Cup second round.
The Norfolk hosts returned to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Freya Symonds coming in on the wings and Shannon Shaw leading the line.
City had the first chance of the game when Ellie Smith picked up the ball less than a minute after kick-off and drove into the box, though her shot was cleared by defender Anna Wilcox for a corner that failed to connect. Boldmere broke forward rapidly with a ball in behind, though Lauren Tomlinson quickly swept it up.
A front-footed counter-press has become a potent weapon in Norwich City’s arsenal since new manager Martin Herdman’s arrival, but Boldmere were wise to it and broke forward quickly whenever they had the ball. The home defense did a good job of shielding their goalkeeper Sarah Quantrill, intercepting balls in behind and dominating duels inside the box, but they had less luck in possession.
The visitors forced City to play out from the back while denying them avenues for central progression. Quantrill looked to go short to center backs who would then play it to the full backs. However, Boldmere used this as a pressing trigger and jumped on the wide defenders whenever the ball went to them, forcing them into low-percentage long balls forward far too often.
Tactical adjustments came about fifteen minutes into the game with defensive midfielder Eloise Morran dropping between the center backs to pick up the ball, but the visitors continued to frustrate. Though City had plenty of possession, they struggled to play through Boldmere’s block and the chances they did create were largely down to individual brilliance.
In the 22nd minute, Quantrill came off her line to claim a ball in behind and threw it long to Smith, who singlehandedly carried the ball into the final third and had a shot on goal, though it was blocked. Seven minutes later, Symonds was the target of a long pass and brought the ball under control with a beautiful first touch with the back of her heel. She cut inside promptly, beating her marker before hitting a well-placed long shot at the top right corner, though goalkeeper Jodie Whitman managed to parry.
The Canaries’ defence had performed admirably in the defensive battles throughout the first half hour, but they were finally beaten in the 32nd minute when a long throw from the visitors led to a shot into the bottom right corner that slipped past Quantrill’s gloves. Just five minutes later, however, a typically brilliant corner kick from City skipper Anna Larkins found centre-back Ceri Flye who hammered the header into the back of the net to draw the Yellows level.
The stalemate continued in the second half with the Canaries struggling with the same problems. Snelling came on for Shaw in the 58th minute and helped create chances with her associative play. However, it did not eliminate City’s struggles with ball progression. The home team simply lacked sharpness. The fullbacks – Tomlinson and Alice Parker – are both capable ball carriers, but they were reluctant to take on defenders and often opted for low-percentage long balls that failed to connect, while Larkins’s passing was uncharacteristically inaccurate.
Katie Knights is another progressive carrier, but she had few touches and struggled to influence the game. As a result, the wingers had few chances to receive in dangerous positions for take-ons and often had to come deep to aid ball progression.
Though Norwich City steadily gained the upper hand in the second half, they struggled to break down the visitors, and it looked for all the world like the game was headed for extra time. However, astonished gasps rang out across The Nest five minutes into stoppage time when Pip Wilson scored a controversially awarded free kick from the edge of the box to regain the visitors’ lead at the death.
With a 2-1 defeat, Norwich City have gone out of the Women’s FA Cup. Their league campaign will resume next Sunday when they host front-runners AFC Wimbledon at The Nest for a top-of-the-table clash in the FA Women’s National League Division One South-East.
Teams: NORWICH CITY: Quantrill, Parker, Flye, Todd, Smith, Larkins, Knights, Symonds (Lawrence 76), Morran, Tomlinson, Shaw (Snelling 57)
Scorer: Flye 37′.
BOLDMERE ST. MICHAELS: Whiteman, Sutton, Kirk, Wilcox, Wilson, Formaston, Billingsley, Abdallah, Bickley (Sherrell 78), Bevan, Keeling
Scorers: Formaston 32′, Wilson 90+5′.
Attendance: 333
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