REPORT | Denbigh Town Ladies 0-1 Airbus UK Broughton Women

Denbigh Town Ladies have been knocked out of the NEWFA Cup at the Quarter-Final stage with a narrow 1-0 loss to Airbus UK Broughton.

The second tier side scored through Ruby Ellis with that goal all that separated the two sides under the lights at Central Park in the only senior domestic match in Wales that night.

Ellen Lawson made one change to the side that overcame Bellevue 13-0 just over 48 hours previous as Mali Thomas came in for Charlotte Cooper but Lawson was forced to bring in Jess Frith for Megan Edwards who pulled up in the warm-up.

The game began and after just three minutes Netty Young was tested in the Town goal when Farrah Aslam struck from the right but Young dealt with it well. Denbigh replied when Lowri Claybrook crossed from the right flank that deflected just over the bar.

Ceri Purvis had a fine afternoon on Sunday with five goals against Bellevue and she almost opened the scoring on 17 minutes when she dashed through the Wingmakers defence before being denied by the goalkeeper. 12 minutes later Claybrook had a great opportunity just inside the box but dragged her effort wide of the left post.

Despite Denbigh testing the goalkeeper the most Airbus had the majority of the ball, Ellis pounced on a mistake at the back and raced through but Young was superb to deny an opener.

Moments later a free-kick for the visitors saw Aslam strike from 25-yards but Young again was on hand to claim it well. The final chance of the half fell to Denbigh when Purvis made inroads into the box before firing across the face of goal.

Half-Time: Denbigh Town Ladies 0-0 Airbus UK Broughton Women

Denbigh were more than holding their own against higher tier opposition, but Airbus came out the blocks quickly in the second half and put Town under pressure. Despite the waves of attack Denbigh had the first chance of note in the half as they broke leading to half-time substitute Natalie Harrison running in on goal before unleashing a shot that was saved low by the Airbus custodian.

As the half went on Denbigh looked like the side most like scoring and Purvis linked up well with Harrison scooping a ball over the top town the right, Harrison cut inside before having a go, but the keeper was once again on hand.

Failing to take your chances rarely leads to anything other than ruining those opportunities, and that’s what Denbigh did with 15 minutes to spare. Airbus ran through with Young initially making a great stop but Ellis was on hand to smash home the opener.

Denbigh now had to chase the game and continued to get forward, Claybrook crossed from the right channel with six minutes left to play which Purvis was on the end of, but she couldn’t keep her effort down. Just before stoppage time Claybrook had it on the edge of the box on the left, she fired but it flew just wide.

Airbus held on and progressed to the Semi-Final whilst Town dust themselves off before hosting Pwllheli at Central Park on December 3rd in the Betty Pickering Cup.

Denbigh Town Ladies: Young, S.Jones, Thomas, E.Morris, Duff, Claybrook, James-Owen, E.Morris, Frith, Purvis, Kell

Subs: Bancroft, A.Jones, Edwards, Cooper, Harrison

Referee: Arthur Smallman

Attendance: 66