'˜Devastated' Pompey Ladies narrowly beaten by Aston Villa

Pompey Ladies manager Perry Northeast was devastated to see his team suffer a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa in the FA Women's Cup.
Pompey Ladies manager Perry Northeast. Picture: Paul JacobsPompey Ladies manager Perry Northeast. Picture: Paul Jacobs
Pompey Ladies manager Perry Northeast. Picture: Paul Jacobs

The Blues were cheered on by a vocal away following and were very unfortunate to lose out to their FA Super League hosts.

Villa won it with a goal from Katie Wilkinson, who struck a quality shot into the top corner on 65 minutes.

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It was a precise finish that divided the teams on the day and sparked a feeling of disappointment for Pompey Ladies.

They matched their opponents throughout the contest and were it not for one great goal they would have been in the hat for the fourth round draw.

Northeast said: ‘We are quite devastated because we put a lot into the game.

‘It was a tight match. The momentum was swinging like a pendulum.

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‘There was only one goal in it and it went Villa’s way unfortunately.

‘We’re proud of the players and on another day we would have scored.

‘We had one effort cleared off the line and a couple of other chances.’

The contest was in the balance until the final whistle and both teams had to work hard to create any openings.

Neither defence was in the mood to give anything away.

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That was a dramatic contrast to some of the other FA Cup matches played on Sunday.

Durham beat fellow Super League side London Bees 9-0.

Brighton, who lead the FA Premier League southern division, thrashed Super League Oxford 10-0, while Charlton crushed Newcastle 10-0.

It was a day for the big scores with Blackburn beating West Ham 7-0 and Everton hammering Stoke by the same score.

Northeast added: ‘We were not gifted any easy chances and I wouldn’t say we gifted any chances to Villa either.

‘The goal came from a half clearance.

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‘It was a dangerous cross initially and we cleared to the edge of the 18-yard line.

‘Wilkinson then hit a great strike into the top corner and that goal won the tie.

‘No keeper in football was saving that one.

‘Looking at the positives it took a great strike like that to beat us.

‘In some ways that was the most gutting aspect as well.

‘But for that goal, we would have been in the draw.

‘We have players who are capable of producing that sort of quality as well.

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‘The ball just didn’t fall to one of our players in an area where we could have punished them.

‘It was gutting for us but when you look at our result and compare it to some of the other scores we feel it shows we have a team who are more than able to play at Super League level.’

Pompey Ladies are back in league action on Sunday when they play at home against Cardiff (2pm).