Grecians beaten 2-0 with City ninth in table after tough start to season
Exeter City Women suffered a second successive league defeat as two late goals secured three points for newly promoted Real Bedford on Sunday afternoon.
A team that have enjoyed success under the ownership of a local businessman and Bitcoin entrepreneur, Real Bedford had never faced an Exeter City side until Abbie Britton’s side made the arduous journey to Bedfordshire at the weekend.
Britton named three changes from the previous weekend’s home loss to Watford, one of which resulted in a first league start for summer signing Ellie Sara.
The Grecians started brightly with Sophie Gillies forcing a near-post save from Nina Meollo, before picking up a loose pass and firing another effort wide.
As the game settled, Breon Grant began to seize control of the Bedford attack, shooting into the side netting after a swift counter attack. A cross from the Bedford right was met by a Chloe Logie header mid-way through the first half, the ball bouncing off the post and being cleared to safety, much to City’s relief.
After weathering a good spell from The Pirates, City created two golden opportunities of their own. Amber Pollock’s driving run set Maddie Durrant up for the finish, but her effort was sliced wide from close range. Ishbel Zuurmond was next to find a city player in the penalty area, her cross falling kindly to Ellie Sara who saw her effort saved.
The last of the first half action came in a City corner forced by Pollock. However, Sara’s header towards goal was cleared away from danger, and so the teams went into the break all-square.
The second 45 minutes commenced with strong appeals for a Grecian penalty, as the ball seemed to strike the arm of a Bedford defender. The officials saw no infringement on this occasion however, so play continued.
Sara had a glorious chance to open the scoring when she went through on goal, Meollo again standing tall to deny her. Gillies and Burridge both fired shots wide, before Zuurmond glanced a header towards goal, but City could not find the moment of quality to grab the lead.
Such is the way of the Grecians fortune at this moment, those missed opportunities would come to haunt them. A sliced City clearance fell kindly to the host’s Issy Bryant, who fired past Abbi Bond for the opening goal.
The Grecians threw everything forward in the closing stages, with Georgia Vaccaro impressing on her return to the team. However, for all their territory, that golden chance failed to fall as Bedford defended resolutely.
With the final passage of play, city put everyone forward for a corner and as the ball broke to Leyla O’Brien she raced clear and calmly secured the points for the home side.
A pleasing performance for Abbie Britton’s side, who will be ruing their luck at this moment, but if the Grecians continue to perform with this desire and quality then the next victory will not be far away.
The Grecians are back on home turf next weekend, as Fulham make the trip to The County Ground at Coach Road to battle it out for a place in the next round of the WNL Cup
