The Northampton Town Ladies travelled to newly promoted Lutterworth Athletic Ladies who joined the East Midlands Women’s Regional League following an unbeaten 2017-18 season.
The Cobblers started brightly and found themselves 1-0 ahead within three minutes when Alex Bartlett put Emma Dunmore through one on one with the keeper and she slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Lutterworth grew into the game and their determination was rewarded when Paige Crossman scored her first goal of the season to draw them level. Lutterworth could have taken the lead but they had a goal disallowed for offside.
The rest of the first half was evenly matched and the half time break arrived with the scores level at 1-1.
The second half saw a much better performance by the Cobblers and they showed their dominance and skill to take control of the match.
Northampton Town were awarded a penalty when Emma Billenness was brought down in the area. Emma Dunmore stepped up but the Lutterworth goal keeper was equal to the shot and parried the ball away.
The Cobblers pressure finally broke down the Lutterworth defence on 65 minutes when Sara Wait’s clearance turned into a brilliant through ball for Emma Dunmore to run on to, beating both centre backs with speed and strength. Emma gave the keeper no chance finishing into the bottom corner to put the Cobblers 2-1 ahead.
Dunmore almost had a third when her shot beat the keeper but the Lutterworth defender made a goalline save. On 79 minutes Dunmore turned provider, powering down the right-hand side before cutting the ball back for Georgie Powell to make it 3-1.
The Northampton Town Ladies would like to thank all their supporters who travelled to Lutterworth for the game, especially the younger fans who have been showing their support the last few games!