On Saturday 20 January, Bootham Ladies made the trip across the Pennies to play Tier 1 league leaders Bolton in their last group cup game. Bolton, on their home court and unbeaten in all competitions this season, were going to provide the ladies with their hardest test pf the season. With 6 players unavailable, Suzy Collins, Eleanor Walker, Allegra Sellechop-Evans, and Katie Samson were recalled to the match day squad.

Bootham were represented by:

Ellie Whittaker (C), Natasha Eustance, Ruby Shaw, Suzy Collins, Katie Samson, Ava Worthy, Eleanor Walker, Allegra Sellechop-Evans and Lucy Hudson.

1st Half

Bootham’s game plan was to defend deep and try and stop Bolton from getting close to their goal. The game started well with chances for Worthy and Eustance. Bolton took the lead with a second post finish before a great move involving Shaw and Eustance, whose driving run and diagonally pass picked out captain Whittaker for a close range finish. Bootham were well in the game for the first 10 minutes and Worthy shot over from another good move. Bolton always looked dangerous and scored several goals late on to make the halftime score comfortable.

Half Time: Bolton 5 – Bootham 1

2nd Half

Bootham looked to contain Bolton in the second half and keep the score down. They started well and defended well, frustrating the opposition well, but Bolton managed to capitalise on mistakes from Bootham and score at regular intervals. Worthy, Eustance and Shaw all looked dangerous throughout the half but couldn’t beat the Bolton goalkeeper. The game ended in a comfortable win for Bolton.

Full Time: Bolton 14 – Bootham 1

Coach Chris spoke to us after the game, he said, ‘Even though the score is bad, I am pleased with the way we went about that game today, especially in the first half. The ladies worked so hard, and we were just one or two players short today, and the 2nd half score showed that, the players just ran out of steam! They are top of the league for a reason, they are a very good side, today we played against 5 potential England players. I was pleased with the 1st half, we matched them well, we just keep making silly mistakes, giving the ball away in the wrong areas. This is something we will have to address if we want to push for promotion next season.’

When asked about captain Ellie he said, ‘I think she was excellent today, by far her best game of the season. It shows how good a player she is, especially in the way she reads the game, and she made some fantastic tackles and recovery blocks, the one off the line in the first few minutes is amazing. She is club captain for a reason, her passion and knowledge of the game are second to none.’

He finished by saying, ‘The league cup group stage has been a real mixed bag for us, a draw first up against Tier 1 Sunderland, two defeats to Bolton and then 2 games against Manchester in which we know we should have done better. We now wait on the draw for the Plate Competition, and with that bit of luck we will do all we can to get to the final and have a day out at St George’s Park. We have shown in pretty every game this season we are capable of beating anyone in Tier 2, we just must be consistent throughout the whole game and cut out the silly mistakes.’

Click here to see highlights from the game

Players of The Match as picked by Coach Chris – The Whole Match Day Squad – in what was an extremely difficult game, the whole squad worked their socks off and never gave up, one very proud coach.