City Ladies begin season in defeat
EXETER CITY LADIES began their season with defeat at Keynsham Town.Full of confidence after a 5-1 friendly win over Torquay United a week earlier, the Grecians started slowly and were 2-0 down after just fifteen minutes. The first goal was a free-kick that caught keeper Carley Barber slightly off her line, while the second followed quickly after that, with the City defence at sixes and sevens at a corner.
Exeter did start to grow into the game after going two goals down, but while the second half saw a great save by Barber, she could do little to prevent Keynsham scoring their third on fifty-five minutes.
Sophie Simpson was bought on after seventy-five minutes to replace the struggling Helen Kukor, whose thigh strain could see her miss out on action for between two and three weeks.
City’s injury problems continued when defender Sophie Russell was replaced after damaging her ankle, and with no other subs remaining, the City Ladies were down to ten players. They did manage a consolation on seventy-nine minutes when Vicky Barter tapped in, but unfortunately City were not able to enjoy their consolation, as Keynsham re-established their cushion with a fourth goal soon after.
The Grecians travel to Shanklin next Sunday, with a view to putting the disappointment of this result behind them.