Bolton Wanderers Ladies Gain Revenge in County Cup Victory

It’s been a really interesting opening to the campaign for Bolton Wanderers Ladies and one with lots of goals thus far - which was again the case on Sunday.

A County Cup clash at home to Morecambe offered the perfect opportunity to get last week’s 4-1 defeat against the same opponents out of their system. And they did exactly that with an impressive 4-2 victory.

However, things weren’t looking so rosy at the half-time break with the Whites again trailing by one goal to nil. But the second half was a different story entirely as Wanderers rallied to a superb victory, led by a brace from striker Ruby Howard that turned the match on its head.

Her first was a lovely team goal down the right, with one striker (I think it was Emma Pilling) dropping into the hole and sending a lovely pass out to the winger, who knocked a low cross into the near post for Howard to steer home. Her second was a great move down the left all the way from a Bolton goal kick. The left winger played a one-two with the left-back, then got in behind her full-back to get on the end of a pass from Pilling (again, I think), who made a great run into the box and teed up Howard to score in the far bottom corner.

Top scorer Mitch Kirkman-Ryan again got herself on the scoresheet to make it 3-1, and it was again Pilling the creator (I think). The little left winger picked up a flick-on from a throw-in, ran into a gap and then sent a lovely through-ball to Pilling who squared the ball for Kirkman-Ryan to convert with an excellent finish into the top right corner.

The visitors then scored again to set up a nervy finish. But a classy late goal from the returning Pilling was just the tonic to settle any nerves and ease Wanderers into the quarter finals. Bolton’s right-back won the ball back and, with Morecambe committing numbers forward, set up a counter-attack with a ball into the centre midfielder who hit a first time pass out to the right winger. She ran at the defence then squared the ball to Pilling, who took the ball down well on her thigh, cut inside the defender and finished nicely into the bottom corner.

Watch all the Bolton goals in the video below:

This weekend also saw the draw for the Women’s FA Cup third qualifying round. Bolton have been drawn against local side CMB, who enjoyed a strong 2-1 victory over Tranmere in the second round. That game will be played on 8th October.

The ladies are next in action on Wednesday night, as they face a midweek journey to Crewe Alexandra in the Women’s Premier League.

Reserves see off Leeds

Bolton Ladies Reserves were in league action on Sunday, and picked up their first points of the season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Leeds. Striker Naomi Green had a debut to remember by putting the side into a 2-0 first-half lead with two clinical strikes.

The visitors came back into it in the second half and halved the lead with a penalty, but Wanderers played the better football as the game wore on and saw the game out for their first league victory at this level.

Goals galore for Bolton junior sides

Bolton’s newest girls team made their league debut on Sunday as the Under 15s made the trip to Stockport. They marked the occasion with a goalfest as they shared eight goals with a side that has competed at this level for several years.

Meanwhile, down one more age group, Bolton’s Under 14s racked up another emphatic victory as they defeated Lytham 8-0 away from home, adding to last week’s 13-0 dispatching of Lostock. 21 goals for, none against in two games - not bad girls!

You can support Bolton Ladies this season by getting down to their games at the Kensite Stadium in Atherton, and you can follow their Twitter and Facebook pages and keep an eye on the Women's Premier League website.