League champions Lionesses roar past Notts to reach Cup semis.
On Wednesday the 8th of March Birmingham 1s met Nottingham 1s in the championship cup quarter finals at Bournbrook. The two teams had previously met this season within the North A league resulting in an 8-0 victory for the Lions on home turf.
Within minutes Notts and the Lions were out to create strong attacks, however the defences of both teams managed to defuse any creative offensive play to block any shots on target. Unfortunately, ten minutes in Birmingham conceded the first and only Nottingham goal of the game which came from a quick attack on goal, resulting in a 1-0 lead for the away side.
Birmingham were quick to respond and bridge this gap by setting up a well-worked goal between Owsley (12) and Aitchison (14) who seamlessly flicked in the ball into the back of the net. This goal appeared to push the Lions straight back into the game and restore their confidence.
With the teams now level, it was clear that Birmingham were nowhere near finished with their pursuit to head into the semi-finals of this cup. Within the 18th minute and after several shots on target, the Lions finally secured their second goal coming from Mitchell (12). The rest of the first half saw even play with both sides matching the attacks of the other, finishing 2-1.
A growing crowd gathered to see the second half and created a brilliant atmosphere for such an entertaining game. For the home crowd, they saw their team come into their own and quickly begin to dominate the play.
Only minutes into this second half Hunt set out to strike a goal into the back of the net and didn’t disappoint due to a miss from the keeper, taking it to 3-1. However, the Lions weren’t going to stop there as within three minutes olympian Owsley ran down the middle of the Notts defence to score a wonderful solo goal, making it 4-1.
The creative attacks just kept on coming from the Lions with a goal from Wills and then Hunt coming in the final ten minutes of the game. Birmingham then focused their efforts on keeping the lead at 6-1 and maintaining their strong defence.
The match ended with a deserved victory for Birmingham who now head into the semi-finals to face Edinburgh 1s at Bournbrook on the 15th of March. Here they will be eager to maintain their strong and cohesive game play with a home ground advantage to their name.
