Our Women’s Under-19s battled out a 1-1 draw with Southampton before losing the subsequent penalty shootout for a bonus point in the Professional Game Academy League on Sunday afternoon.
Having fallen behind inside the opening minute on the south coast, we fought back and found an equaliser just after the half hour mark, Rania Oukriss netting her second goal in as many games in the league to put us on level terms as we headed in the break.
We were more controlled in the second half in what was an evenly matched contest with the Saints, but we just lacked conviction in the final third as we settled for a point in normal time before a penalty shootout followed to determine the bonus point.
Oukriss was denied before Eloise Summers-Mee dragged her effort wide in our first two spot-kicks while the Saints calmly converted and, although Grace Bellwood scored our third penalty of the afternoon, the home side were clinical from 12 yards out and won the shootout 4-1 to claim the extra point.
Reflecting on the game, coach Sabiha Jamal said: "It wasn't not good enough to concede that quickly, we know that and we’ve been caught out early again. However, I have to praise the reactions from that moment until the end of the game. We stay in the contest, pulled one back in the first half and, I think, we did enough to win it in normal time, but unfortunately we were unable to convert one of our many chances in the second half.
"It was disappointing to not come away with a bonus point with another penalty shootout win, but there was a lot positive to take in the 90 minutes against a very tough team in this league. Also, we put out a very young squad compared to recent weeks, with five Under-16s involved in the matchday and majoirty of them all featuring in today's game. Collectively, we’ve done really well to compete against a good side."
More details to follow…