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Post by Everton News. on Apr 3, 2017 13:06:57 GMT
 Everton Ladies’ winning run in the Spring Series came to an end as they were edged 2-1 by Millwall. Having beaten Oxford United Women and Sheffield FC Ladies, the Blue Girls were looking for a third win, and started brightly, with Mollie Green – making her Toffees debut in behind Claudia Walker – shooting straight at Sarah Quantrill early on. But it was the hosts who went in front. Ella Rutherford stole possession 20 yards from goal, picked her spot and fizzed a drive that flew into the net off the inside of the post. The Blue Girls responded and inside seven minutes they were level. Emily Hollinshead was upended in the box and while Lionesses keeper Quantrill got a hand to Walker’s spot-kick, she couldn’t keep it out. Hollinshead fired narrowly off target, and Gabby George’s strong challenge helped snuff out the lurking Rutherford as the first half drew to a close. After the break, it was Everton who stepped up a gear. Quantrill denied Danielle Turner after she was sent through by George, while the Blue Girls defender twice threatened with successive headers. But on 64 minutes, Millwall regained the lead against the run of play. Minutes after coming on, Charlie Devlin was in the right place at the right time to steer home from close range. The Toffees piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser and Green was denied a certain goal by a last gasp challenge after being played in by Walker. Quantrill denied Michelle Hinnigan then saved brilliantly from Walker to preserve the victory for her side, much to Everton’s frustration. However, the Toffees have the chance to bounce back when they head back to Widnes to host Aston Villa. Everton FC |
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Post by Everton News. on Apr 3, 2017 13:07:42 GMT
 Everton Ladies captain Michelle Hinnigan insists the Blue Girls must learn from disappointing defeats like the one they suffered at Millwall Lionesses on Sunday. Goals from Ella Rutherford and Charlie Devlin condemned the Toffees to their first Spring Series loss, despite Claudia Walker’s penalty. Millwall set up with plenty of bodies in midfield to stop Everton’s flowing, passing game, and Hinnigan knows the Spring Series gives the opportunity to learn how to deal with various systems ahead of the WSL 2 season starting in September. “We need to learn how to adapt when teams try to stop us playing how we want,” she said. “We saw Millwall do that on Sunday. The formation that they put out took us a while to work out, pinpoint where we could have success and how to deal with it. “It’s about making sure we can take our game, our playing style and our formation, and imposing that on other teams. “Performance-wise, the one against Liverpool was good and we played really well, especially in the second half and in extra-time. The result didn’t go our way but in the dressing room afterwards, we were happy with the way we had played against a WSL 1 side. “We should have taken that confidence into the Millwall game. But we were all disappointed with our performance.” The Ladies now have two weeks to wait until they welcome Aston Villa to Halton Stadium as they resume their Spring Series campaign. Hinnigan added that they will be spent working hard to put things right on the training pitch. “If you look at the chances we created against the Lionesses, then it's fair to say we should have won,” she explained. “The way we created openings is a big plus to take away from the game, but we also accept that we have to be more clinical in front of goal. “We know that the Spring Series is going to be so competitive, every team in our division want to do well. “We are determined to put things right against Aston Villa and we will work hard at Finch Farm in the build up to ensure we do that.” Everton FC |
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