Cherries exit Hampshire Senior Cup
AFC Bournemouth
- Attendance:
- 832
- :
- John Harvey
AFC Bournemouth bowed out of the Hampshire Senior Cup after suffering a 7-1 defeat against Southampton in the quarter-final today.
The Cherries were beaten in front of a crowd of 832 at AFC Totton’s Testwood Stadium – a club record for a Southampton women’s game.
Goals from Sophia Pharoah and Rachael Panting, inside the space of ten first-half minutes, gave the National League Division One South West table-toppers a 2-0 lead at the break.
Although Shannon Albuery made it 3-0 early in the second half, Katie Kingshott’s deflected effort gave hope to a Cherries team which competes a league below Southampton.
But further goals from Panting and Caitlin Morris, coupled with Shannon Sievwright’s double, saw Southampton claim the derby bragging rights.
The visitors were forced into a late reshuffle when leading goalscorer Meg Vella, who tops the charts with 14, was unavailable to join the travelling squad.
Southampton fashioned the first shooting chance after just two minutes when Kelly Fripp fired past the post after Phoebe Williams’s corner had only been half cleared.
Albuery’s deflected effort was eventually gathered by Cherries goalkeeper Steph Small before Southampton stopper Sara Luce saved Rebecca Miles’s shot from the edge of the box.
The hosts drew first blood after nine minutes when a deep cross from marauding right-back Ella Morris fell kindly for Pharoah who made no mistake from 10 yards.
As Cherries went in search of a quick response, a snapshot from Miles was saved by Luce after Hannah Bennett’s corner had found her in space on the edge of the box.
Sievwright fired narrowly wide following another Williams corner before Southampton doubled their lead in the 19th minute.
Panting was well placed at the near post, the striker turning home Alisha Ware’s driven, low cross with Small powerless to prevent the ball flying past her.
Pharoah headed over following another precision centre from Ella Morris before Small raced off her line to smother bravely at the feet of Albuery.
As the first half drew to a close, Ella Morris burst clear down the right flank, only to blaze her resultant effort high over the crossbar.
Southampton extended their lead just two minutes after the interval when Albuery converted from close range after Panting had found her inside the six-yard box.
However, Cherries reduced the arrears in the 54th minute when Kingshott’s speculative strike from 25 yards deflected off Fripp and wrong-footed Luce before creeping inside the post.
But Southampton quickly restored their three-goal lead when Panting added her second following another driving run from Ella Morris who unselfishly squared to her team-mate when she could have taken aim herself.
Panting then turned provider for Sievwright to make it 5-1, the Southampton captain delicately lifting her effort over Small from just inside the box on 65 minutes.
Small then made a top-drawer save to push Panting’s piledriver over the crossbar but there was no stopping Sievwright’s second in the 70th minute, the midfielder’s stunning 25-yarder finding the top corner.
As Cherries stuck to their task, Luce got down smartly to push Erin Thickett’s angled drive past the post before Katelyn Wort saw her header cleared off the line.
Caitlin Morris’s bullet header from a Sievwright corner made it 7-1, the defender powering her way through a crowded penalty box to score.
Fripp’s block denied Thickett a shooting chance in the closing stages before Maisy Smith headed inches over the crossbar and substitute Rachael Anderson lifted her shot over the top with virtually the last kick of the game.
Cherries: Small, Jones (Burridge, 83), Davis, Kingshott, Wort, Smith, Thickett, Bennett, Miles (Anderson, 70), Topping (Harvey, h-t), Eden. Unused subs: Scadding, Wade-Palmer.