Charlie Bill’s Women return to winning ways after they bounce back from midweek disappointment.
Charlie Bill made one change to his starting XI from their previous league fixture against top-flight team, Oxford United. Tricia Gould replaced Amy McClean, Rennai Bennett and Laura Mitchell were also introduced in the squad, but were named among the substitutes.
First-Half
MK Dons came out the blocks strong and created multiple chances in the opening stages of the game as a result. Pepper crafted a shot just wide of the target, Coupar then followed up with an opportunity of her own as she ran through on goal, however, the number 18 was deemed offside.
Mollie Coupar was amongst the action once again and was awarded a foul in the middle of the field for her efforts.
A ball was delivered into the area and found the feet of Coupar, whose initial shot was blocked by the Bee’s defence. Although, she made no mistake in her follow-up chance and located the back of the net, which granted the opener for the Dons in the first 12 minutes of the fixture. 1-0
Charlie Bill’s Women remained on the front-foot and used the momentum from the first goal to their advantage.
Nicole Pepper, who faced adversity in the midweek fixture, returned to the score sheet through an incredible effort from outside the area. The number 10’s high press allowed her to effectively snatch the ball from the away side’s defence.
Pepper then took one look at goal before smashing the ball into the top-left corner of the net, an unstoppable strike that the opposition’s keeper had no hope of saving. An incredible goal, which doubled the advantage for the home team. 2-0
Charlie Bill’s Women created a plethora of chances throughout the first half, but the score-line remained 2-0 at the interval.
Second-Half
Lucy Wood fired a shot that glanced over the bar within the opening minutes of the second 45 to play, a start great start that replicated the first half.
MK Dons continued their impressive display throughout the match and limited London Bees to very few chances, the opportunities that they did create were only met by a solid Dons defence, accompanied by Chloe Sansom between the sticks.
Although there were no goals in the second 45 minutes of play, Charlie Bill’s Women saw out the game brilliantly. Coupar and Pepper’s contributions, as well as Sansom’s clean sheet gave the Dons exactly what they needed to comfortably claim three points.
***
MK Dons: Sansom, Warren, Puddick, Biggadike, Rush, Pepper (Bennett 90), Wood (Miceli 66), Miles, Gould (Mitchell 86), Coupar (McLean 75), Newman
Subs: Davies
Goals: Coupar 12, Pepper 14
Photos captured by CTFPhotography
