Norwich City 2-0 AFC Wimbledon
by Lucy Chen at The Nest for Impetus (5/12/23).
Above: Norwich City celebrate Tash Snelling’s opening goal in their hugely important win at home to AFC Wimbledon. Photo: Norwich City Women.
Norwich City hosted AFC Wimbledon at the Nest on Sunday for a top-of-the-table clash in FAWNL Division One South East. Both sides started the season superbly, with Wimbledon winning all but one of their games and leading the table by six points while the Canaries have a game in hand and remain unbeaten in the league.
Norwich City returned to a back three with Hope Strauss coming in for Freya Symonds while their talisman Tash Snelling returned to the lineup.
The Dons had the first chance two minutes into the game when they secured a corner, though the shot was well over. A minute later, the visitors broke down the right again and delivered an excellent cross for a header that smashed into the crossbar. Though the Canaries had plenty of possession in the opening minutes, Wimbledon held the upper hand.
The visitors happily conceded possession to deny Norwich City the opportunity to press them and force turnovers high while marking the pivots Eloise Morran and Katie Knights to make central progression difficult. City were forced to build up play from the back, with Ceri Flye receiving the short pass from goalkeeper Sarah Quantrill and looking for the outside centre-backs. The visitors, however, jumped on the outside centre backs whenever they received the ball, forcing them to go long and breaking forward quickly in transition.
The Canaries increasingly resorted to going long, with Snelling and Megan Todd dropping to act as target forwards, winning their duels and holding up the ball before playing in teammates. Ellie Smith – Norwich’s creative hub – pushed higher whenever Snelling dropped in a bid to receive in more dangerous areas, but this was to their detriment as Smith’s more advanced positioning limited her involvement. The Yellows would often look for her to pick up the ball deeper and carry it forward, but with Smith higher their buildup became one-dimensional and almost entirely reliant on going long and winning duels.
A player of Smith’s calibre, however, only needs a split second to make a difference, and she did just that in the 31st minute, winning the ball on the edge of the box with a tackle before finding Snelling at the far post for the opener.
Unfortunately, Smith sustained an injury in the process and was forced to go off, replaced by Rachel Lawrence. Meanwhile, play resumed and the Dons pushed for the equalizer, coming close in the 39th minute with a ball into the box. Quantrill initially claimed the cross, but the ball slipped from her gloves and looked for all the world like it was going in the net. However, Strauss got there just in time to clear the danger.
Two minutes later, the Canaries had a chance of their own with Lauren Tomlinson sprinting down the left in one of her signature marauding runs, though her cross missed the target. Wimbledon goalkeeper Faye Baker went long from the resulting goal kick and Morran found the ball at her feet in the ensuing chaos. She found Lawrence on the edge of the box with a long diagonal pass, and the Canaries’ number 24 delivered her cross with pinpoint accuracy, finding Snelling at the far post again to make it 2-0.
The second half began more slowly, but the pace picked up and the game quickly devolved into open-ended exchanges with the two sides contesting the midfield fiercely. Turnovers were frequent and the Canaries’ midfielders fared well in those battles.
Morran is the archetypical number six and held position in front of defense, winning her duels and screening the backline though she had few chances to dictate play given the frantic nature of the proceedings. Knights on the other hand, thrived in the chaos and was at the center of the action, harrying opposition players in defense and driving forward in attack, although the Canaries lacked that creative spark without Smith and were happy to sit back and protect their lead.
The Dons had their best chance after the restart in the 65th minute with a cross into the box, but Flye managed to block the resultant shot. Five minutes later, the trio of Snelling, Knights, and Lawrence combined brilliantly on the right, with Snelling dropping for the wall pass and knocking the ball back to Knights who released Lawrence down the flank, though it ultimately came to nothing. Snelling had a chance to complete her hat trick in the 76th minute but Baker managed to parry her shot.
In the end, AFC Wimbledon were not able to breach Quantrill’s goal and Norwich City saw the game out to win 2-0. Only three points behind now, the Canaries will close the gap if they win their game in hand and the title race promises to be a tight one.
Teams: NORWICH CITY: Quantrill; Strauss, Flye, Larkins, Tomlinson, Knights, Parker; Smith (Lawrence 33 (Hailes 90+3)), Todd (Symonds 71), Snelling (Daviss 86)
Scorers: Snelling 31′, 42′.
AFC WIMBLEDON: Baker, Russell, Highman, Ali, Hinks, Gibson, Donovan, Billingham, Dorey, Goddard.
Attendance: 320.
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