Women's football was undoubtedly the winner on Thursday night when the first ever Her Game Too Shield took place between Rotherham United and Mansfield Town at AESSEAL New York Stadium - a clash which the hosts prevailed as victors in on penalties.
A winner from the inaugural match - and one that we hope becomes a staple of the football calender - was undecided after 90 minutes as the Millers played out a goalless, but entertaining, draw at the club's first team stadium before keeping their nerve in the shootout to lift the shield.
After a deluge of rain throughout the day the weather cleared in the evening to set the scene nicely for the first ever Rotherham United Women’s fixture to take place at AESSEAL New York Stadium – with the Thursday evening action also marking the inauguration of the #HerGameToo Shield.
A bumper crowd of 1,124 people gathered inside the Millers first team stadium to be a part of a legacy for the women’s game which has continued to flourish since the UEFA Women’s EUROs were hosted here last summer.
The first chance of note came for the Millers after 12 minutes had elapsed when Molly Corke picked out the run of Lauren Winter who fired an effort just wide of the Mansfield goal.
The Stags were quick to reply with an opportunity of their own when they forced RUWFC ‘keeper Georgia Ward into a fine reaction save. Tia McDonagh was the visiting player who find herself with time to fire a shot at the target, which took a deflection en-route and looked headed for the bottom corner until the outstretched arm of Ward prevented it from nestling in the back of the net.
It was the Millers who had enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had carried a real threat down the right thanks to the marauding runs of full back Jessica Jones.
Having delivered a series of decent crosses, Jones almost provided the ammunition for the opener with half an hour on the clock as she floated a ball in from the right which Winter dashed to meet at the near post, where she was unlucky to see her glancing header go narrowly over the target.
As the half continued to unfold it was the Millers – and in particular Winter – who looked the most likely to break the deadlock. Another positive run from midfield saw the Millers no.8 take aim at the bottom corner with a low driven effort, which Vennssa Kinnerley got down smartly to her right hand side to save.
Millers forward Halima Essa had made a series of surging runs as she ploughed a lone furrow in attack for the hosts and had proven to be a thorn in the side of the Stags all evening, although she had been denied any real sights of goal.
A rare Mansfield break saw some space open up for Amy Dawson 35 yards from goal but she was unable to generate the necessary power and accuracy to trouble Ward.
With 38 minutes on the clock, Winter’s eyes lit up again as she seized on a defensive error deep inside the Mansfield half and charged towards the goal, where she was denied a near-certain scoring opportunity by an excellent recovery challenge from a retreating Stags defender.
The last act of the half in the way of a shot at goal came from Dina Sarayreh, who looked to catch Vennssa Kinnerley off-guard in the Stags goal with a long-range strike, which ended up wide of the goal frame.
HALF-TIME | RUWFC 0 v 0 Mansfield Town Ladies
The two sides continued to jostle for position following the restart but it was Mansfield who had come out following the half-time team talks brighter.
Substitute Jessica Parker thought she had found some room in behind the Millers defence after four minutes had elapsed and although she forced a solid stop from Kinnerley in the home goal, she would have been denied by the offside flag regardless of whether the shot had hit the back of the net or not.
The visitors continued to apply the pressure and tried their luck attacking down the flank when Dawson found herself in a good crossing position high up the left, but could only find the gloves of Ward in goal with her deep delivery to the far post.
Moments later, Dawson so nearly had the goal at her mercy when a ball ricocheted favourably into her path in the box after good work from Grace Shipman, but an awkward spin prevented her from firing at goal from close range and the Millers recovered in time to clear.
The momentum was very much with the Stags by the time an hour had passed and they very nearly unlocked the Millers defence when a stray pass was picked off by Millie Edwards on the edge of the box. Her effort looked to be wide of the target until it was steered back goalwards by Shipman, who couldn’t do so with enough power to threaten Ward.
The Millers almost swung the tie in their favour with 74 minutes on the clock from a set piece.
A pinpoint Sarayreh delivery from a wide free kick was met at the near post with a stooping header from Hale, who was so unfortunate to see her contact take the ball inches over the top corner.
A breakaway attack from the visitors very nearly changed the complexion of the tie entirely when Shipman found herself charging towards goal, where another excellent recovery challenge denied her from testing Ward. The ball did, however, fall perfectly into the path of the onrushing Dawson who crashed a strike towards goal where Ward produced a heroic stop to keep it tied at 0-0.
Ultimately and despite both sides knocking on the door and a last minute thunderbolt frim Jones which was saved, a winner couldn’t be decided meaning that the first ever Her Game Too Shield ended in a draw which headed to penalty kicks.
FULL-TIME | RUWFC 0 v 0 Mansfield Town Ladies
The hosts would eventually prevail as victors on penalties in dramatic fashion as they came from behind in the shootout to win following two Mansfield Town misses.
Penalties:
RUWFC | O X O O O
Mansfield Town Ladies | O O O X X
RUWFC | Ward, Sarayreh, Corke, Newell, Tart ©, Jones, Winter, Simmons, Essa, Hale, Tinker.
SUBS | McCrory, Wilson, Mitchell, Oyeka, Tattam, Harris, Staples, Goodhill.
Mansfield Town Ladies | Kinnerley, Taylor, Price, Bowley, Foulkes, Dawson, Beckwith, Edwards, McDouagh, Chincharo, Evans.
SUBS | Hutsby, Parker, Shipman, Cousins, Bell.
Attendance | 1,124