Chichester & Selsey Ladies earn narrow win over cup stars Bridgewater

A display full of grit and determination from Chichester & Selsey Ladies saw the home side earn a fabulous 1-0 win to send the club into the Christmas break with a very timely boost to their league form at the expense of Bridgewater, who could be excused for having thoughts of their next FA Cup match still fresh in the mind.

A display full of grit and determination from Chichester & Selsey Ladies saw the home side earn a fabulous 1-0 win over Bridgewater United. Picture by Sheena Booker

Bridgewater started brightly and, despite the game being a little scrappy, enjoyed a decent amount of possession. The Green and Whites battled heroically to prevent any opportunities on goal.

As the half moved on Chichester began to settle and restricted their opponents time on the ball and drew more and more errors from the Red and Blacks.

From one of those, the predatory Jane Yeates fired Chichester in front with a savage strike from 25 yards to blow the proverbial roof off the Bunn Leisure Stadium.

Emily Wilson-White was a constant threat for the Red and Blacks down the left. Her ability to get a teasing cross into the danger area was a solid challenge to overcome for the likes of Nicky Lake and Sophie Phelps, but the pair did really well to keep those moments at a premium during the game.

Sadie Blakely was relatively untested during the first half but the visitors came out with renewed purpose in the second in the hope of turning things around.

Bridgewater forced a succession of corners early into the second period but good defending denied them a chance of finding the net. Blakely was always on hand to drop on the ball, whenever possible to slow the game down and maintain Chichester’s slender advantage.

Sophie Phelps then cleared off her own line from another Bridgewater foray as the Red and Blacks pushed even harder to restore parity but luck didn’t seem to be with them on this occasion.

Chichester did have some good moments during the half with Tash Wild and substitute Charlie Davey spearheading some good counter attacks but action in the final third let them down as they looked to try and find a second goal.

In the end the Green and Whites held on brilliantly to seal a massive victory for the club and give them renewed hope for survival in the new year and exact revenge over Bridgewater for the two losses earlier incurred in the season.

The Green and Whites start the new year in mid-January with a tough away trip to Oxford before a midweek game away to Southampton.