Norwich City Women drop their first points of the season in a thriller against Chesham.

Norwich has played two games since my last evaluation, the first against Brighton and Hove Albion’s Under-21 squad in the WNL Plate.

Following a devastating defeat to local rivals Ipswich in the WNL Cup final round, Andy Cook made only two changes for the visit of Brighton’s academy, displaying his desire to reclaim a title he previously won at Nottingham.

Ella Powell and Lara Densley joined the Canaries this summer, with the former impressing early on.

Norwich was awarded a penalty when a Seagulls player committed a handball in the tenth minute.

Everyone knows what came next…

City centerback Hope Strauss smashed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net to give Norwich the lead, sparking wild celebrations at The Nest.

Strauss now has three spot kicks from three attempts this season, keeping her flawless record for the club and establishing that she is the most consistent player from 12 yards in the entire division, much alone yellow and green.

As is normal with this dynamic squad, the Canaries did not rest on their laurels after scoring the breakthrough, with Powell, Holly Kennard, and Natasha Snelling all having chances to increase our advantage.

Controversy occurred late on, when Lara Densley thought she had sealed the match with 10 minutes left. Her blistering single run ended in a shot that appeared to cross the line, but the referee did not award a goal.

This came after Sarah Quantrill made a fantastic save to deny Aisha Masaka an almost certain equalizer for the young Seagulls.

City held on for a 1-0 victory and moved to the first round proper, with no more goals scored.

The Canaries’ next WNL Plate encounter is against the third-tier Milton Keynes Dons.

The Dons are presently at the bottom of the Southern Premier Division, with only one point all season and a staggering -27 goal differential.

The tie not only gives Norwich the opportunity to test themselves against higher league opposition, whom they may well replace if promoted, but it also gives the club another chance to play at a professional stadium, as MK’s women play all of their home games at the 30,000-seater Stadium MK.

Andy Cook’s ladies were back on the road for a league match, this time against Chesham United.

Cook made three substitutions for this game, giving Millie Daviss her first start of the season at right back.

Cook made a controversial decision by starting last season’s Player of the Season, Ellie Smith, on the bench in this game.

City had already made their intentions known in the opening minute, as Lauren Hailes’ shot flew wide of the left post.

Tash Snelling answered minutes later with her own attempt, which struck the roof of the net.

The Canaries then came close again, with Snelling’s effort hitting the post after good work by Freya Symonds out wide.

Then it was Shannon Shaw’s turn to test the goalkeeper, with Nicole Spittle alert and collecting Shaw’s header 30 minutes later.

Despite the typically bleak and lifeless connotations of a goalless half, the opening 45 minutes at The Meadow were everything but, with a dominant City frustrated to go into the interval level.

You might argue that Norwich’s clear-cut chances dried up at the start of the second half, making things even worse.

Lauren Hailes had their best chance after the restart, but her effort fell just short of the goal in the 50th minute.

Then a catastrophe occurred.

Following a flurry of Norwich chances, Chesham broke through on the counterattack, with Rebecca Fraser lobbing Sarah Quantrill to give the hosts an unexpected 1-0 lead with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Yes, it is not uncommon for Norwich to concede early, but doing so in the second half, after Chesham had resisted them all day, did not bode well for their chances.

Cook had had enough within minutes and turned to the prolific Smith, as well as his namesake Olivia Cook, to turn things around for his club.

With eight minutes left, their fortunes turned. Ella Powell, who came on for Millie Daviss early in the second half, scored to square the game for City.

It’s game on!

 

Within a minute, Norwich’s pleasure turned to anguish when Fraser mimicked the comedic villain’s chorus by scoring her second from distance, restoring Chesham’s lead.

Even the most devoted Norwich women’s team supporter would have thought it was too late for Norwich to score another goal in this game, wondering whether this was the one that got away.

However, as I’ve frequently remarked in these assessments, this squad never knows when it’s lost, and there was still time for one last try.

Issy Moore’s late corner fell perfectly for defender Ceri Flye, who devastated Chesham hearts and ensured the Canaries returned to Norfolk with a point, which was the least they deserved after the game ended 2-2.

Overall, it was a game of extremely mixed emotions. On the one hand, the conclusion is definitely disappointing, especially given that promotion from this league necessitates an almost faultless season.

However, the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives. For starters, Norwich’s decision to concede late in the game but not lose indicates the team’s tenacity and ambition to win the league this season.

Following this, our nearest opponents, Actonians, dropped points, losing 2-2 against London Bees. Third-placed Real Bedford was not in play, although their worse goal difference would put them below Norwich even if they won the game in hand.

Hopefully, the club will be able to return to winning ways on Tuesday night when they go to AFC Sudbury, ahead of the plate tie against MK Dons next weekend.

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