Cullompton Rangers LFC
Cully FA Cup Exit
Cully 1 v Frome 2
28th Sept 08
Cully went out of the Womens FA Cup, narrowly losing 1-2 at Speeds Meadow. Handed a tough tie against fellow league contenders the game was always going to be well contested. On a hot and sunny afternoon the teams entertained the crowd and provided a good showpiece for Womens football. Frome started the brighter and put Cully back four under pressure attacking down the right wing. Having won a succession of corners, they took an early lead when Cully failed to clear from one and were punished. The clearance from the corner was headed to a Frome striker, her shot was going wide but was finished clinically from close range.
Spurred into action by this goal, Cully went on the attack and Rachel Javan, Lola Sanchez and Celine Le Boyet were causing Frome plenty of problems with their pace. Karen Buck had the first half chance from Lolas corner. Attacking at the near post her shot was wide and didn't test the keeper, but started the pressure on the Frome defence. Cully took advantage of seeing the keeper spill a few crosses and on one such occassion it looked like they had capitalised fully. Rachel quickly closed down the keeper when she spilled the ball, having won the ball she rounded the keeper and placed it into the empty net, only for the Ref to disallow it saying the keeper had her hands on the ball when Rachel snatched it.
Jess Hooper was next to make the keeper work when she curled a left footed free-kick goal-bound the keeper kept it out but it fell to Lola who was closed down as she shot over the bar. Emma Mingo was then called into action, but she showed to be more decisive than her opposite member when she punched clear from a dangerous cross and then caught well from a corner under pressure from the Frome attacker. As the half came to a close Frome looked to be panicking at the back and were under pressure from the wingers Jess and Celine. Celine made a great run down the wing, beating her marker. She found Rachel with an excellent cross but Rachel was adjugded to be off-side as she ran through towards goal. Lola then came the closest to opening the scoring for Cully when her free-kick thundered against the bar and rebounded into play at the feet of a Frome defender.
The second half started wekk for Frome and early as they found their way through the Cully defence, beating the off-side trap that worked perfectly for the home-side in the first half. Mingo kept the score at 0-1 when faced with a one-on-one. When the From broke the off-side trap. Mingo came out, narrowed the angle and put the shot around the past when the Frome striker looked odds on to score. Lola and Rachel worked hard up front but were hassled well by the Frome defence and clear cut chances were kept to a minimum. Against the run of play Frome then extended their lead. Another corner was well worked by Frome and the home side were again punished for not clearing clinically. From the edge of the 6yd box a Frome player shot towards goal and it deflected off Emma Jones closing down, and looped over Bucky stood defending the back post. At 0-2 the Gaffer changed the formation and went 3-5-2 to try and dominate more in midfield. Sam Bell moved into the middle and her aggression and determination saw Cully get more of the ball. With 10 mins to go Cully pulled a goal back and set up a thrilling finale. The move was the best of the match and Cully deserved the goal that resulted from it. Flo Greensit, who had come on for Emma Redwood, gathered the ball in midfield and Mandy Earle passed it out wide to Jess. Her darting run down the left saw her go round to defender and the cross back to the edge of the box was dummied by Lola for Rachel coming in. She finished superbly with a first time left footed shot that went high over the keeper. As Cully went all out for an equaliser Mingo was called into action several times as the defence tried to assist the midfield by pushing up. Mingo was sweeping well on the edge of her box, kicking to safety on more than one occassion. Cully ran out of time, pushing for the equaliser and Frome clung on to proceed to the next round. Emma Mingo was rewarded for her performance being named player of the match by chairman Bill Newcombe. Cully are back in league action against the next week when they face a tough challenge as Larkhall visit Speeds Meadow.