GARY BARRELL said his Redditch United Ladies side had made life difficult for themselves but praised them for finishing the job as they saw off Rubery 5-3 on Sunday.
The Reds surged into a seemingly impregnable 4-0 lead at the Trico Stadium before being made to sweat as some slack play was punished, allowing the visitors to reduce their arrears to just one goal with 20 minutes still to play.
However, Amy Kendall’s curling strike from just inside the area wrapped up the points with the last kick of the game and, in truth, put the icing on the cake of what should have been a more comfortable victory.
American midfielder Mckenzie Karas had set the platform for victory with a sublime hat-trick and Katie Edwards was also on the mark for the table-topping Reds, who remain seven points above second placed Worcester United who have four games in hand.
Barrell said: “There were lots of good aspects to our play in the first hour or so as we stretched Rubery and made good use of the ball, but for some reason we got complacent and became sloppy in possession and we very nearly paid a heavy price.
“It’s a big three points for us because Rubery held Worcester the previous weekend and came here with confidence. It also keeps the pressure on Worcester to produce the goods in their games in hand.
“Overall, we got the job done and scored some impressive goals.”
Lauren Pearson and Edwards combined well on the right for Redditch, whilst in central midfield Lily Eustace and Karas were dominant in the opening period for Redditch as they created openings for forwards Sofi Liperis (opposition player of the match) and Ellie Gerhold.
The hosts got the breakthrough in the fifth minute when Karas curled home a left-footed strike from the right-hand edge of the box and it became 2-0 on the half hour mark when a precision pass from Eustace split the Rubery defence and Edwards calmly slotted the ball home.
The match appeared over as a contest on 46 minutes when Karas drilled home a brilliant 25-yard strike into the bottom left corner, before she completed her hat-trick six minutes later with another rasping finish, this time left-footed on the turn from 12 yards.
Then came the hosts’ worst spell of the match as they were punished for some lapses in concentration, allowing Rubery to score three quickfire goals.
However, another crucial three points in the West Midlands League Division One South title race were sewn up when Kendall found space to score from 18 yards from the left-hand edge of the box.
The Reds Ladies are breaking new ground this weekend with a tour to Paris, during which they will play local side Puc-Football Section Féminine on Saturday.
The Reds’ next league match is a visit to Marston Green on February 26.