On Saturday, 13 September, Bootham Ladies kicked off their new season with a home league fixture at York Stadium John University Sports Barn, facing old rivals Leicester Athletic. Last season’s encounter had been a tightly contested affair, with Bootham narrowly edging out Leicester 2–1. Expectations were high for another close game.

Bootham entered the match amid a player crisis. Several departures over the close season, injuries, and absences left Coach Chris with a bare-bones squad. Six first-choice regulars were unavailable, leaving the match day squad as follows: Katie Samson, Kimberly Samson, Suzy Collins, Ellie Whittaker (C), Jess Barnes, Jess Baker, Natasha Eustance, and Charlotte Broad.

1st Half

In a tense first half, clear chances were hard to come by. Leicester were happy to sit deep in their half-court block and try to catch Bootham on the break, but Bootham stayed patient, moving the ball with confidence and probing for openings. The only goal of the half came from a penalty after Whittaker was judged to have caught the ball in the D.

Half Time – Bootham 0 – 1 Leicester

2nd Half

The second half opened right up and Bootham came roaring back into the game, Barnes firing home from a perfectly placed Baker kick-in. Moments later Eustance lit up the court with what will surely be a goal-of-the-season contender on the opening day — an outrageous lob from deep in her own half that left the Leicester goalkeeper stranded! Leicester pulled one back from a harshly awarded free-kick and then snatched the lead shortly after. With Bootham piling forward in search of an equaliser, Leicester grabbed a late fourth against the run of play.

Full Time – Bootham 2 – 4 Leicester

Coach Chris spoke to us after the first game back, “I’m a little disappointed with the result but totally happy with the performance. It’s frustrating to play against a team that’s happy to sit back and play purely on the counterattack. When we face teams like this, we’d like to be on a larger court so we can use the width and depth much more to our advantage. That said, we created enough chances to win the game but were missing that player to put the ball in the back of the net.”

On Natasha’s wonder goal, Chris said, “I think we’ve just seen the goal of the season on the opening day — what a hit! She’s such a talented player, and today she played with a slight injury knowing we were short of numbers. That just shows what a fantastic team player she is.”

Talking about injuries, he added, “We’re struggling a bit at the moment with Ruby, Heather, Allegra and Nikki all missing. Suzy played today with a small knock as well. We’re likely to be in this situation for the next few weeks unless we can bring in a few new players. The good news is we’ll have talented teenagers Erin, Abbie and Hannah available later this month, but for now we just have to stick together and work through this sticky patch. Overall, it’s a good start to the season — we know there’s a lot more to come.”

Match Highlights:

Player of the Match — chosen by Coach Chris and Captain Ellie — was Kim Samson. She was outstanding in defence, putting in crunching tackles and time after time breaking up dangerous counterattacks.

A few images from the game: