Albion Women came from behind to pick up a valuable point against Middlesbrough at the Alexander Stadium on Sunday.
The Baggies were a goal down for a large period of the match after Armani Maxwell’s first-half strike, but Hannah George equalised inside the final 15 minutes with a sweetly-struck free-kick from the best part of 25 yards.
Manager Siobhan Hodgetts-Still made two changes to the side that was beaten by Rugby Borough in midweek. The sidelined Zoe Creaney was replaced by Naomi Sharp as the defensive pack was reshuffled, while Seren Watkins came back into the action in the middle of the park.
The Baggies made a positive start to the FAWNL Northern Premier encounter. Rhianne Oakley’s cross met the boot of Phoebe Warner after the ball evaded goalkeeper Ruby Cook, but the creative midfielder couldn’t keep her strike down with the goal at her mercy.
The hosts then had some defending to do. Sharp made an incredible tackle to deny Rebecca Ferguson, but the visitors were able to make brief spell of pressure count shortly after. Maxwell found space beyond the Albion defence and confidently slotted past Charlotte Clarke.
Hodgetts-Still brought on Molly Kehoe in a bid to regain a foothold in the match and the Baggies almost did exactly that moments later. Sharp’s floated cross evaded the reaching arms of Cook before crashing off the crossbar.
Middlesbrough responded by hitting the bar themselves soon after - an opportunity which could have killed the game off.
That miss gave the hosts hope and Albion capitalised by finding the all-important equaliser. Substitute Simran Jhamat was fouled, leaving George to step up and bend a delightful free-kick into the bottom corner.
That was the last chance of note for Albion, who despite further late pressure, were forced to settle for a well-earned point at the Alexander Stadium.
Albion: Clarke; Sharp, Reynolds, George, Haughey; Watkins, Orthodoxou (Evans 78’); Warner, Oakley (Jhamat 69’), Robinson (Kehoe 60’); May (Pullen 78’).
Substitutes: Johnson, Rabjohn, Day.
