Llandudno Ladies 6-1 Bethel Ladies
I have recently moved house from St Helens, Merseyside to Llandudno. I am an avid football fan and, for many years, beginning in the early 1980s, was a season ticket holder at Liverpool. I am used to huge attendances, big games, international star players, fantastic games, and trophies. From Dalglish and Sounness to Barnes and Beardsley to Owen and Gerrard to Mo Salah, I am used to greatness. As a tiny tot, I remember Toshack and Keegan, and the Mighty Emlyn Hughes (who I always considered Welsh, on account of his Welsh rugby playing father who came north to play league for Barrow). I also followed John Toshack when he became Swansea City player-manager in 1978, taking a number of Liverpool footballers with him. I became a mad keen Swansea fan and enjoyed every minute in their rise from the fourth division to the top of the first division.
That kind of quality and success can spoil you. But there has been low spots too. Swansea tumbling down the divisions from 1983 onwards was a sad time. Heysel and Hillsborough were dark moments (I was in the pens on Leppings Lane that day in April). And Liverpool lost their way on the pitch under Sounness and never quite came back to the dominance they once had. I’ve known a little bit of thin, then. But with Liverpool becoming English, European, and World champions 2019-2020, a huge 4-0 hammering of Messi’s Barcelona reversing a 3-0 first leg deficit, I don’t think I’m in a position to complain about ever having suffered from footballing hard times.
Which brings me to my move to Llandudno. People travel long distances to football these days. Although I have followed Liverpool on their travels, that has never appealed to me. I like a home game to be at home. I don’t drive, either. I’m a great believer in supporting your local side. So I decided to go and watch the Llandudno men’s team against Conwy. I’d visited Conwy a few days earlier, and walked the four miles back, taking in the ruins of Deganwy castle on the way back. It was a beautiful day. And I bought a Conwy mug to go along with my Llandudno mug. So this was a local derby to look forward to, and it didn’t disappoint. Llandudno play some fine football, on the ground, going long when needed, very attractive. Llandudno won 2-0, but Conwy were competitive throughout. There was only the one goal in it until the 71st minute. I then watched Llandudno play Airbus in the Welsh Cup. They went two goals down, which I thought undeserved. Llandudno started the second half on fire, but gave that second goal away. It was all uphill from there, but they kept the pressure on and created more than a few chances – ball off the line, ball tipped over the bar, ball hitting the bar, stonewall penalty denied. I thought Llandudno did more than enough to draw the game, at least. Anyhow, the old football passion was the same. The walk home from the ground, reliving the game and its moves and chances, bemoaning the injustice of a cup defeat in the dark – it was like old times (I’m still narked by Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Luton back in 1987, that was no way for the great double of 1986 to be lost!)
Llandudno men play excellent football. They have now won five games in a row in the league since I moved here. I think I am being seduced. My neighbour told me that they were relegated last year. So am seeing them on the up. Great manager, fine football, fantastic atmosphere at the ground, it’s a good place to be.
Which brings me to the ladies. Llandudno Ladies vs Bethel Ladies was the first game of women’s football I’d seen in the flesh. I’d been interested in Liverpool Ladies, of course, but could never be quite sure where they were playing and, when I was sure, found the venue too difficult to get to. So I never acquired the habit. I’d watched women’s football on TV, of course, and enjoyed it. It was easy to poke fun a few years ago, and You Tube is still full of videos of classic goalkeeping errors, defensive errors, all kinds of errors, not to mention the odd bit of hair-pulling and outright assault. Very amusing, I’m sure. But the standards have not merely improved in the past two decades but soared. It is impossible to patronize the ladies game now. It’s football. It looks like football, it moves like football, it sounds like football. The players are well-coached, fit, have all the skills, and know what they are doing. As I say, it’s football, and I am sure it will continue to go from strength to strength as more and more girls and women start to play the game.
As to actually attending a ladies match, I never quite plucked up the courage in the past. I would have preferred to have gone along with someone accompanying me for some reason. On my own, I knew that I would be inclined to have to justify my choice to attend. What was I doing there? As if watching a nice bit of football wasn’t reason enough. I noted the U23’s were playing a few days earlier, and so went down on my own.
So I’m very much into this club and felt emboldened to give the ladies a go. I’m glad I did! This was a super game of football. I may have picked the right match – a 6-1 victory for Llandudno in the cup, with three goals in the first twenty one minutes, all scored by Ella Jones, who went on to next again in the 42nd minute. Goals were in the air from the very start. Indeed, Ella Jones showed her intent immediately by hammering the ball against the crossbar in the very first minute, whilst shortly after Stacey Tradewell had shot cleared off the line. I heard the bench shouting ‘it’s coming’ several times before the first goal was scored in the eighth minute. It was all action I was on my toes paying attention, afraid I might miss something if I blinked.
I don’t know the players, so it was a case of me watching and seeing who played where and what they could do, working out the shape of the team and styles of the players. I had read that Maddie Williams had been called up to the Welsh camp and, at 16, is something of a prospect. I couldn’t pick her out on the field at the moment, though. Ella Jones is another player with huge potential, having only turned 17 in June. There was no missing her, scoring four goals in the first half.
It was an awesome display of relentless attacking football by Llandudno. The amazing thing is that you look at a 6-1 scoreline and come away thinking the opposition wasn’t up to much and simply caved in. That’s precisely what wasn’t the case. I thought Bethel were a fine team, made chances throughout, kept their shape, and were pressing to the end. I was rather touched by their keenness. With just a few minutes remaining, I rushed to retrieve the ball that had been knocked out of play, and returned it to a Bethel player, to receive a most charming ‘thank you.’ 6-1 down and still keen to get a goal back! I like that attitude. It will be interesting to see the result when the teams meet again. I thought Bethel a very good side. Their record proves it. The previous week they had started the season with an impressive 5-1 away win against Airbus. Llandudno Ladies themselves had opened the campaign with a 4-1 away win against a very good Llanfair. So this was very much a heavyweight clash between two good teams in fine form.
Fine movement and ball carrying, penetrating passes that opened up the opposition and had them turning, precise final balls and clinical finishing marked Llandudno’s play in the first half. The remarkable thing is that Bethel didn’t crumble but kept their shape and showed their own attacking skills, pulling a goal back in the 26th minute and going close a number of times in the second half. Most of all, though, I loved the crisp, sharp passing of Llandudno, the speed with which they got the ball wide, and advanced with menace into the last third of the pitch.
I tweeted on this:
"Super awesome game of football today @LlandudnoLadies vs Bethel Ladies. Fast pace, superb moves, great skill and commitment & goals! The run down the right to hit the woodwork would have been a goal of the season. My first time watching ladies' football, will definitely return."
That's accurate and to the point - fantastic football with great movement, well-thought out moves, incisive passing and clinical finishing. Excellent defence, too. It's not a case of long ball or short ball but the right ball and knowing when to play it. This was all in evidence in this game.
Woman of the Match
I’m unable to identify the players by sight, so can’t really judge. The flank players and forwards caught my eyes, of course. I suppose it would be hard to look past Ella Jones and Jasmin Dutton. But, contrarian that I am, I’ll sing the praises of the defence in conceding just the one goal against a very competitive Bethel side. But that may well have been down to midfield dominance. So I’ll give the award to all of them. It’s a team game after all, and this was a great team performance, strong in all areas.
For Bethel, I’ll say the nice lady who paused to say ‘thank you’ to me for retrieving the ball at speed for her. Charming.