Women open league campaign with win

AFC Bournemouth Women kickstarted their league season with a 3-1 win over Woodley United.

Goals from Rebecca Miles, Maisy Smith and Meg Vella were enough to give the Cherries all three points in the Southern Region Women’s Premier League opener.

Steve Cuss’ side got of to a lightening start and found the net within ten minutes.

A superb run forward from Vella, who beat her opposite number for pace, saw her get to the by-line before pulling back to the onrushing Miles, who tapped in from yards out.

However, the scores were level on the half-hour mark.

A clinical finish from Freya Jenkins inside the area meant that there was nothing that ‘keeper Steph Small could do to prevent the equaliser and the teams went into the break all square.

The Cherries came out fighting in the second half and regained the lead within three minutes.

A corner was delivered to the edge of box with Emma Davis waiting to fire goalwards. Her shot was too powerful for the Woodley ‘keeper, who spilled the ball into the path of Smith, giving the defender an easy finish for her second goal in as many weeks.

With pressure constant from the hosts, a third goal came ten minutes from time after an excellent team move, which started from Small at the back.

Hannah Bennett played a first-time through ball to Vella, the forward slotting home low to secure the win.

After the game, manager Cuss shared his thoughts with afcb.co.uk.

“It was pleasing to get three points in the opening league game of the season,” he began.

“It was a tough match, but we started brightly and scored first. We then got pegged back before half-time, so going in all square we then knew that the second half was going to be hard as we had to score a goal and break them down.

“Fortunately for us, we managed to get an early second half goal and dominated possession, before getting a third goal to kill it off with an outstanding team move.

“It was vital to get the win as we had a good cup result the week before, so we needed to start strongly in the league. Overall, I’m pleased with the performance and the three points.”