United start 2024 with 3 points

The second half of the season began last weekend when Hull United travelled north to face Alnwick Town Ladies. United wanted to start the second half of the season with a new attitude and were hungry for a win.

After a long three hour journey, the ladies kicked off with a 4-2-1-3 formation with the usual back four: Wilshere, Sharpie, Ward and Robinson.

In the holding midfield role were Captain Holmes and Chloe Robinson with Tankard playing just in front. The front three included Newlove, Tate and O’Neill.

The game kicked off and both teams seemed up for a battle. The back four kept winning balls in the air and mopping up loose balls. The midfield worked hard, ensuring they won their battles early on in the game. An early substitution had to be made with Brown replacing Ward. Brown slotted into the midfield and Newlove had to drop into fullback position to help the squad. However, it was the home side who put away the first goal just inside of the 15 minute mark. The first half of the match was end to end but the Keeper, Sharla Cone, made some great saves. Just before the half-time whistle blew, a chance opened up for Hull United, where Millie O’Neill ran through the defence line and equalised.

The message at half time was to keep calm on the ball and try to link some more passes together to make sure that we came out with a positive result at the end of the game.

Captain Holmes came off for a few minutes being replaced by Ward, and the game kicked off. United appeared to start the game with a newfound confidence and tried to play with the ball on the floor. Some good balls were played through for Ward, Tate and O’Neill to run on to. Around the 50 minute mark, a ball from Millie Sharp found Tate, who scored a great goal, making the score 2-1.

Then, it was United’s job to defend the win as best as possible, which was done successfully by the whole team fighting to the end. Some more substitutions were made: Chloe Robinson off for Chelsea Bailey, Brown off for O’Rourke and Millie Sharp off for Ibbotson. The game remained end to end, even within the final minutes. Alnwick, desperate to gain some points from the game, even brought their goalkeeper up the pitch when the final minutes saw a flurry of free kicks and corners conceded. However, Hull United continued defending as they had done all match, and the final whistle blew, which secured a 2-1 win in the first game of 2024.

Player of the match had to go to two players this week who were Corinne Wilshere and Millie sharp, as they battled endlessly throughout the whole game.

This week's game will be played at home against Barnsley.

Assistant Manager Mel Marsden added, “The girls played brilliant today; we have been working on our shape in and out of possession, and it’s really paid off. Their work rate, desire, and commitment were first class - something that will be beneficial for us to move up the league. Sometimes, you have to win ugly, roll your sleeves up, and get stuck in, and that’s something we did in abundance on Sunday. It’s a great start to 2024, but we have to stay grounded and move our focus to Sunday when we welcome second place, Barnsley, to Haworth Park. We are looking to gain more points on the table.”