YEOVIL TOWN LADIES 1

BIRM’HAM CITY WOMEN 3

YEOVIL Town Ladies were knocked out of the SSE Women’s FA Cup in a 3-1 defeat at home to high-flying Birmingham City.

Goals from Aoife Mannion, Emma Follis and Charlie Wellings were enough to see the Blues through to the fifth round of the FA Cup, despite a late consolation from 16-year-old substitute Erin Bloomfield.

Glovers’ boss Lee Burch made one change from the 2-1 loss at Bristol City, with Olivia Fergusson returning to the starting 11 and Bloomfield dropping to the bench.

The Blues started strongly and put the home side under pressure early on. Yeovil had player-of-the-match Megan Walsh to thank for keeping them at bay.

After 15 minutes, Birmingham did have the ball in the back of the net through former Glover Lucy Quinn but the assistant raised the flag for offside. It was a warning sign for Yeovil and Walsh was then called into action twice in quick succession.

Just three minutes after the disallowed goal, Follis found herself in space on the troublesome right-hand side and only had Walsh to beat but the shot-stopper dived down well and parried the shot away for a corner.

Yeovil did have their moments as Fergusson and Annie Heatherson combined well just before the half-hour mark only to be flagged for offside.

Walsh was later called into action again when Quinn found herself in far too much space having broken free from the Yeovil defence.

Once more, she only had the goalkeeper to beat but Walsh was on form to parry the shot once again.

Yeovil then conceded a penalty on 37 minutes. Wellings was fouled by Megan Alexander in the box and right-back Mannion slotted home the spot-kick.

A nightmare start to the second half followed for the Glovers, conceding just 42 seconds in. Follis burst forward and fired home past Walsh after some sloppy defending.

Yeovil then struggled to get a foothold in the game and just before the hour mark Wellings added a third with a powerful finish into the bottom corner.

Teenager Bloomfield was introduced from the bench on 77 minutes and, with her first touch of the afternoon, she scored her first Yeovil goal when Charlotte Buxton’s excellent cross invited the striker to head home.

It was a real milestone for Bloomfield who has made the step up from the academy this season.

Just when Burch’s side were looking more threatening, they found themselves down to 10 players when Georgia Evans suffered a painful-looking injury to her elbow, which is still being assessed.

Yeovil now face a tough trip to second-placed Arsenal next Wednesday in the Women’s Super League.

Yeovil: Walsh, Alexander, Short (Cousins 62), Fergusson (Bloomfield 76), Horwood, Heatherson, Mason, Donovan (Syme 67), Buxton, Evans, McLauchlan. Subs not used: Goddard, Fischer, Piggott, Howard

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