THE Saints host the long-travelling Magpies at Saint Mary’s Stadium in a promotion hunting six-pointer. Follow our blog and social media for live updates of all the action on the South Coast.
FULL TIME: Southampton are defeated 2-1 to Newcastle, with the Magpies Jordan Knobbs scoring a first half brace. Tegan Mcgowan scored in the 88th minute to get one back for the Saints, but ate pressure couldn’t prove fruitful.
95′ – An injury stoppage means we will go long beyond the allocated six minutes here. The Saints have to get the ball up the pitch though.
90′ – SIX MINUTES of added time and St Mary’s is rocking here! Can the Magpies survive?
88′ – GOAL! It’s not over yet! Tegan Mcgowan is slipped down the right channel and she slots a precise finish through the legs of Tamminen. One minute of normal time to go and Newcastle’s lead has been halved!
87′ – Substitution for the Saints. Primus is replaced by Edwards.
86′ – Substitution for Newcastle. Brace scorer and key player, Nobbs, is replaced by Stokes.
85′ – On the counter attack, Newcastle substitute, Beth Lumsden, draws close as she cut in and unleashed a fierce effort with her left boot. Over the bar this time though.
83′ – CHANCE! It’s a huge opportunity for Primus. She shifts the ball onto her right foot, in thhe six yard box but is only able to smash her strike into the midrith of Tamminen. Nearly, but not enough once again for Southampton.
77′ – Substitution for Newcastle. Former Southampton player, Molly Pike, is substitued for Ashanti Akpan.
76′ – Cutback after cutback from the Saints keep falling to a Newcastle shirt. Very frustrating for the home team.
74′ – Southampton are looking exceedingly dangerous. There might not be long left on the clock but if the Saints can tidy up their finishes and key passes in the final third a breakthrough should be imminent.
70′ – Brazil broke into space beyond the Magpies defence but her shot from a tough angle was well held by the ever-reliable Tamminen.
68′ – Substitution for Southampton as Mcalonie is replaced by Mcgowan.
66′ – Knobbs thought she had the opportunity to break away for her hattrick but the great frame of Goddard was there to thwart her.
58′ – Substitution for Newcastle. Sevenius is replaced by Lumsden.
51′ – CHANCE! It’s Brazil with a glorious opportunity. This time the ball breaks to her following a corner, no more than four yards from goal but she toe pokes it over the crossbar. She can’t believe she missed!
50′ – CHANCE! Good start to the second half for Southampton. This time it’s Bashford who sweeps her volley just off target following a pinpoint cross from the left hand side.
48′ – Michaela Mcalonie has the first shot of the second half. A nice turn gave her space to strike with her right foot from the outside of the box, but the effort was tame and Tamminen was behind it once again.
46′ – Newcastle get us underway for the second half. The Saints will finish this game shooting from right to left.
The Saints have struggled for form of late and were hoping to turn the corner after their result last time out. That wasn’t the case in that first half and they will need a much better showing if they are to get anything out of this game.
HALF TIME – Southampton 0-2 Newcastle, Jordan Knobbs (1′, 43′)
45′ – There will be three minutes of added time in the first half.
43′ – GOAL! With the seagulls still looming, it’s the Magpies who score again. An excellent interchange and one-two with Emily Murphy sets the ball back for Jordan Knobbs to place a delightful finish into the top right corner. 2-0 to the visitors and Southampton have a Geordie mountain to climb.
41′ – Seagulls have just descended on Saint Mary’s Stadium. Excrement is everywhere. If you are afraid of birds or fancy keeping your chips to yourself this is exactly where you don’t want to be.
39′ – The game has settled into a bit of a lul these last ten minutes with neither goalkeeper troubled. The Saints continue to look the more likely to score.
30′ – It was a delightful outswinging ball from Bourne who had Saints queuing up to meet it. Sadly, the coneection was to thirm and the header looped over the crossbar. Real chance for Southampton.
29′ – A high challenge from Jemma Purfield sees her enter the referee’s book and Southampton have a very threatening freekick on the right hand side.
24′ – Tara Bourne takes a heavy touch in a defensive position and it breaks to three Newcastle attackers. Their ateempt on goal was powerful but from a challenging angle; Fran Stenson is able to tip it wide of her right-hand post.
19′ – The ball breaks for Chloe Peplow o the edge of the area. But her shot loops up high and wide. The Saints certainly having the better of the game now though and look very threatening down both flanks.
14′ – excellent steal from Mary Bashford in midfielder who broke towards Newcastle’s defence. She unleashed a fierce left-footed effort from just outside the box which catipulted towards the top right corner, but Tamminen made up the ground to match again and tip the shot over the crossbar.
9′ – Atlanta Primus draws another save from Tamminen after fantastic work by Ellie Brazil on the right hand side to find her. The shot was dragged towards the far corner but without any true purchase and the goalkeeper handled it well.
6′ – An inviting Jess Simpson corner drops right under the crossbar, but Magpies’ keeper Anna Tamminen does brilliantly to pat it away. Southampton have upped the intensity here.
4′ – The shaky Saints kicked off the game shooting from left to right, attacking towards the corner where both sets of fans are in full voice.
1′ – GOAL! Well that wasn’t the start the Saints were hoping for. Jordan Knobbs is slid throgh on goal with a delicious through ball, she rounds the goalkeeper and slots calmly into the back of the net. 14 seconds gone and it’s 1-0 to Newcastle.
2:00 – KICKOFF!
13:55 – The teams are out and kickoff is just five minutes away!
13:28 – Ahead of kickoff today Southampton sit five points from third place, where as the visitors trail by six points – one behind the Saints – but vitally have an extra game in hand.
13:21 – Both teams are out and warming up now as the teams are announced to Saint Mary’s with great cheers and applause from the fans down to my right.
13:20 – And the visitors look like this:
An unchanged lineup for the Saints.
13:10 – Southampton’s team today: 22. Stenson, 5. Goddard, 6. Bourne, 7. Brazil, 8. Peplow, 10. Mcalonie, 14. Bashford, 19. Simpson, 20. Primus (c), 23. Collett, 66. Palmer
Substitutes: 2. Brown, 12. Edwards, 15. Hack, 17. Mcgowan, 26. Tucker, 27. Watts, 30. Pettit, 35. Roberts, 60. Archibald
13:05 – Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Southampton vs Newcastle in the WSL 2. I will keep you up to date on every moment from Saint Mary’s crucial tie. Team news will shortly follow.
