QPR FC Women (5) – AFC Sudbury Women (5)
FA Women’s National League Division One (South-East)
Team: Curr, McCrea, Searle, Rogers, Blodgett, Carolan, Owen, Hill, Stanley, Ward-Chambers, Petit
With the Powerday Stadium becoming unavailable, the final league game of the season was switched to Harlington.
On a very overcast Sunday afternoon and with rain threatening, it was the visitors who took the lead in under a minute, with an angled shot which found the far corner.
It didn’t take long for the R’s to equalise. Following an infringement just inside the Rangers half, the lino gave the free kick one way, but the referee disagreed. From which, Grace Stanley burst through before drilling the ball into the net.
However, Sudbury re-took the lead courtesy of Leonnie Bezant’s half-volley from 20-odd yards.
The away side then went further ahead in controversial circumstances! Looking well offside, stand-in goalkeeper Alice Curr, did well to parry the initial strike at goal, but she couldn’t stop the follow-up being scrambled in.
Sudbury soon added a fourth goal.
The R’s pulled one back around the half-hour mark when Jo Blodgett headed in a cross from the left-flank.
Ellie Rogers moved to left-back and there was a temporary halt to the game when the Sudbury No.6 was in need of some attention. Eventually, she had to be helped off. Half-time: 2-4.
Into the second-half and as Rangers looked to narrow the deficit, Ellie Searle was clearly knocked over in the box, but the referee wasn’t interested.
Steve Quashie made two changes on 53 minutes, which saw the introduction of Georgie Lewin and Laura Hennessy at the expense of Ailish Carolan and Izzy Owen respectively.
Sudbury went close to scoring a fifth goal when the ball came off the post.
Georgie Lewin was booked following a pull-back on an opponent.
The visitors went further ahead with a close-range header following a cross from the right-wing.
The Sudbury No.12 was shown a yellow card after seemingly grabbing Ellie Searle round the neck.
On 64 minutes, Grace Shephard replaced Renai McCrea.
Six minutes or so later, Grace Stanley brought it back to 3-5 with a superb strike from the corner of the penalty area.
Rangers battled on and Kasha Petit smashed in an excellent half-volley from the edge of the box.
The R’s continued to look for a deserved equaliser, and it almost came when the keeper superbly pushed out Courtnay Ward-Chambers’ powerful strike at goal.
Then, after her shot was stopped on the line, Emily Hill’s follow-up attempt was well saved.
Rangers dramatically made it 5-5 in added time. Play had continued after Grace Stanley was bundled over in the box and the ball got to Courtnay Ward-Chambers who made no mistake finishing from a few yards out.
So ended another excellent season for Steve Quashie and his players who finished in fifth place, level on points with fourth placed, Ashford Town (Middlesex).
Steve Russell