NLSW1: Torquay United v Bournemouth 2pm 24/09/23

This was a tough match up against a big budget, Bournemouth team that included two former Chelsea players who had played in the women’s FA Cup final only 3 seasons ago plus a Northern Ireland International and I only think that Exeter have any chance of pipping them for the title in this league. The Torquay team are dealing with a bit of an injury crisis as they step up to the greater demands of this division. Things took a decidedly turn for the worse after Emma Hollingsworth, one of our big successes this season picked up an ACL injury in the first half, the third one for the club in the last three months!

From coping reasonably well being only a goal down, coming up to half-time, two more were conceded in the nine minutes of first-half stoppage and another from a free kick very early in the second half. By this stage, two of our midfielders were playing in central defence, Andrea Kaptein and Rachel Griffiths and they did a really competent job there to keep the score down to 5. Overall, a battling performance where the heads did not drop in very trying circumstances, and if they play like that against some of the other teams in this league then points will be picked up.