Blackburn Rovers Ladies deservedly won all three points in a dominant display against London Bees, who remain bottom of the Women’s Championship table. A brace from on-loan Everton forward Elise Hughes and a tidy finish from Saffron Jordan ensured a 3-0 victory for the hosts at the Sir Tom Finney stadium.
Blackburn Rovers Ladies Dominance Earns Comfortable Victory
Story of the Match
Both sides started the match brightly, but found it difficult to create anything meaningful. Saffron Jordan was causing all sorts of problems and it was Blackburn’s number 9 who had the first big opportunity of the game, when she rounded Bees goalkeeper Sarah Quantrill, but was unable to pull it back to a Rovers shirt.
As the half wore on, Rovers inserted their dominance on the game and had a couple of half chances from range, but Quantrill stood equal.
The hosts eventually scored the goal that their first-half pressure deserved when Jordan’s effort was palmed straight to Elise Hughes, who tapped home from inside the box.
This seemed to momentarily wake the visitors up, who had chances to from consecutive corners, but were unable to convert.
After the brief action in Blackburn’s box, it was the hosts who finished the half strongest, and had a great chance to double the lead when Jade Richards’ headed effort was palmed over.
Jordan then had a golden opportunity to increase the lead, seconds before the half-time whistle when, she latched onto Maria Edwards’ deflected effort, only to see her effort saved by the toes of the Bees goalkeeper.
The second half left off where the first half ended, as the hosts continued to control possession. Ali Johnson and Hughes both went close in the opening 20 minutes of the first half, but both saw their efforts sail pas the post.
In the 73rd minute, Hughes grabbed her second and Blackburn’s second, when she converted from the penalty spot, after Emma Doyle was brought down by Bees defender Evie Gane.
The third then came six minutes later, when Saffron Jordan got the goal her performance deserved. The forward managed to turn her defender before coolly chipping the on-rushing Quantrill.
Stand Out Performers
everyone played their part in an impressive 3-0 victory from a Rovers perspective and the five changes made for today’s game will give Gemma Donnelly a real selection headache in coming weeks. The two centre-backs won everything that was thrown their way and the two central midfielders were excellent too.
Blackburn’s new signing Ali Johnson also had a terrific game at left-back. She was strong defensively and a real menace going forward and was unfortunate that no to grab an assist from one of her many dangerous balls into the box.
However, the stand out performer was Rovers’ striker Saffron Jordan, who was a threat all game. She held the ball up brilliantly and somehow did not find the back of the next in the first half. Her moment came though in the second half, when she showed great pace and skill to turn Georgia Robert, before expertly lifting the ball over the goalkeeper.
‘We Can Be Confident Going Into Tough Period’
Blackburn Head Coach Katie Quinlan: “It has been difficult to gain any sort of momentum, but the added time we have had, has given us more time in settling our news signings in.
“We starting to come together as a team now and I think that was evident today. We want to make progress from last season and we want to threaten that top three. And with the tough spell coming up, we can be confident Going into this tough period.”
Previous to the 3-0 victory over the Bees, Rovers had only scored four goals in five league games “It is nice to see teams off and take our chances, it is good from our perspective that we are scoring more and getting ahead of the pack.”
