It was a warm, beautiful (some may say almost summer) evening at Tracer Field in London, as we travelled to take in FC London hosting Woodbridge SC in their season opener. The venue was great – they sold merchandise, food, and even beers, which we love seeing at the League1 level. Honestly, FC London does a great job at hosting their match day experiences and for the value and quality of football you get to see, it’s definitely worth a trip out.
The first half was rather tame, with both teams trading possession and chances but not much coming out of them, with the goalkeepers remaining rather untested. It wasn’t until the 74th minute that we would see the first goal of the season, with Julia Benati curling a right footed shot passed Vanessa Fiore to make it 1-0 for FC London. Then, shortly after in the 90th minute, Julia Benati would in a very similar manner curl in another right footed shot, this time to the top corner, to make it 2-0 for FC London.
However, Woodbridge would get a redeeming goal with the last kick of the game. A shot by Samantha Murphy would be deflected on to the hand of an FC London defender and give Jessica Lisi the opportunity to put home a penalty shot in the 93rd minute. Jessica would put the penalty shot away and make it 2-1, before hearing the final whistle, which ended the game at 2-1 for FC London.
All in all, it was an exciting first match of the League1 Women’s season and we look forward to covering more games this upcoming week. We will be back covering Woodbridge next weekend as the have their home opener on May 5th at Vaughan Grove.
