Women Impress In Millwall Draw

On Tuesday night, Margate Women welcomed Millwall LFC U18’s back to Hartsdown Park for the second time in four months in what was set to be a thrilling and challenging pre-season friendly.

The sides first clashed in a midweek friendly back in April which saw Millwall take the win after an early 2-0 lead was built by the visitors who eventually went on to win 3-1.

The 'Gate have been building their squad over pre-season and with the addition of key players missing from the last clash the side were optimistic for a better result this time round.

It was Margate who capitalised their chances first when in the 11th Minute the home side took the lead. Rebecca Niblett fired a ball into the box from a corner and Nicole Adams found the back of the net with a header from the middle of the box.

In the 29th minute Margate extended their lead to 2-0 after a second from Adams hit the top corner from a 20-yard free kick.

A tussle on the edge of the Margate box saw the referee blow for a penalty, and after a short period of confusion and discussion with the lines-person the penalty was awarded to the visitors. Converting from the spot Millwall striker hammered the ball straight down the middle to claw one back.

Just four minutes later Adams completed her Hat-trick, finding the back of the net for a third time from yet another set piece, again taking the 'Gates lead to 3-1.

On the brink of half time, Millwall found the net for a second time as the defence were split and a powerful ball was played through to the striker who remained composed and slotted the ball past Wood in goal.

The majority of the second half remained goalless as both teams battled defensively and peppered the goal with shots. Some huge defensive tackles from Lily Kemp and Jessica Coltham-Lai left Millwall struggling to level the score line.

In the 81st minute a final corner for Margate saw a scramble around the keeper before Becca Slevin managed to find the back of the net but Millwall responded with another quick through ball finding the feet of the striker. Unable to clear the threat Millwall powered the ball home past the fingertips of Wood to close the gap once again to 4-3.

With just seconds to play it looked set to be a Margate victory however in the 95th minute a desperate Millwall managed to exploit the tired legs of the home side to net a final goal to make it 4-4.

The match proved valuable for the development of the teams and set a standard for just how much progression has been achieved over the last four months.

Goals

Adams '11 '29 '38

Slevin '81

Attendance

59

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