Sheffield United Women: February and March Review

A bumper double-month report on a team coming into form at just the right time

Words: John Slingsby

After a quiet February, United embarked upon a hectic March with six games crammed into the month (The game against London City Lionesses will be covered in the April review). Despite the slew of fixtures, United had a very fruitful March indeed. With three back-to-back wins to end the month, United secured Championship status for another year and look in pole position to end the season in the top half of the table for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

The Games

Durham 2 - 5 Sheffield United 

After going 2-0 down within the first twenty minutes, United found their rhythm over the course of the next seventy to blow away old foes Durham and secure our first win of 2024 in spectacular style.

The opening exchanges saw United almost take the lead through Sophie Haywood. The ex-Villa striker getting on the end of a Rachel Brown cross but blazed her effort high over the crossbar. Durham’s opening goal came in the tenth minute, Amy Andrews calmly slotting past Stenson for her second goal against United this season. After nearly getting a second moments after the restart, Durham succeeded soon after: a miscued clearance from Brown allowed Hepple the opportunity to pick her spot and slot past Stenson to double the Durham advantage.

The United comeback would begin moments later, when a wicked free kick from Rayner found Tara Bourne who headed home for her first league goal of the season. After a madcap opening twenty-five minutes, the game settled down a little, until United got their equaliser just before the break. Tara Bourne was involved again, this time being brought down in the penalty area: Izzy Goodwin stepped up and slotted home.

With momentum firmly on our side, United looked to find a go-ahead goal at the start of the second half, and a minute after the restart, that goal came! Bursting forward with the ball, Jess Sigsworth slammed home emphatically past McAloon for her first league goal of the campaign. It was all United now, as the home side struggled to cope with our free-flowing attacks. Haywood forced McAloon into a superb save and Sigsworth skewed a chance for a second goal from close range. The fourth would come from the penalty spot with Goodwin brought down and converting her second penalty of the game to put United firmly in the driver’s seat.

Durham searched for a way back into the contest, forcing Stenson to make a cracking save, but it was the Blades who wrapped the game up, with Izzy Goodwin – who else? – getting her second hat trick within a month.

Lewes 2 - 1 Sheffield United

Despite a penalty from Izzy Goodwin halving the deficit with twenty minutes to go, United couldn’t quite repeat the feats of the Durham game, falling to a narrow defeat at the superbly named Dripping Pan against relegation-threatened Lewes.

After a cagey opening with very little going for either team, Lewes opened the scoring just after the quarter of an hour mark. Maria Farrugia’s effort had just too much for Stenson in goal as the Lewes midfielder’s effort squirmed under our No.1’s grasp and nestled in the net.

The goal would prove to be an early indicator of how the match as a whole would go. United would huff and puff but never really got anything of note going in a frustrating first period, and after an encouraging start after half time, Lewes got a second via Farrugia who finished off a quick counter with a cool finish. It looked like that would be that, however, United were offered a way back into the contest when Lewes captain Rhian Cleverly looked to have handled a Bex Rayner effort in the box. Izzy Goodwin stepped up and duly despatched her 11th goal of the season to set up a grandstand last twenty minutes.

United kept the pressure on, with a mixture of superb keeping from Whitehouse in goal and last-ditch defending on the line keeping United out. With the late pressure, United did leave the counterattack option open to the hosts who nearly took advantage late on. Chelsea Ferguson was denied by a super save from Stenson. It just wouldn’t fall for United, with Lewes doing their survival bid no harm in securing a crucial three points.

Crystal Palace 1 - 0 Sheffield United

A visit to Selhurst Park on Mother’s Day saw United restrict promotion-chasing Palace to very little. A late defensive mix-up proved costly as The Eagles took full advantage leaving United close, but not close enough to getting what would have been a superb point away from home.

Alanta Brown and Molly Graham returned to the starting XI and it would be United who would start the contest stronger as we looked to press our high-flying opponents in their own half. Despite the press, there were no efforts of note to test Demi Lambourne in the Palace goal. The hosts started to show why they are gunning for promotion as the first half wore on and almost opened the scoring through a fierce effort from Molly Sharpe that crashed against the crossbar.

United responded to the effort and nearly pounced on a defensive mishap when Goodwin nicked the ball off Lambourne in the penalty box, but the angle wasn’t favourable and her effort went wide of the post as the half-time whistle went.

Palace heaped pressure on United in the second half, but a mixture of superb defending (from Molly Graham in particular) and inspired goalkeeping from Stenson made it look like the Blades would be returning to Sheffield with a very respectable point. However, a scramble following a great save from Stenson to deny Sharpe saw the ball fall fortuitously back to the Palace attacker to finally slam home and break Blades’ hearts. United couldn’t find an equaliser and would look to avenge the defeat a week later as Palace would visit The Lane. But first, a game under the lights against Watford.

Sheffield United 1 - 0 Watford 

A first-half Tara Bourne goal was enough to secure a first home win since October for The Blades in a contest that the home team largely controlled, easing some lingering fears of being dragged into a relegation dogfight.

There was only one change from the Palace defeat as Ella Kinzett was brought in to replace Brown in midfield. United were quick out of the blocks with Goodwin and Sigsworth both going close in the opening exchanges, and the corner following the Goodwin effort would lead to the only goal of the contest. A trademark pinpoint Jodie Hutton corner found the head of Tara Bourne to nod home for her first league goal of the campaign, and reward United for a positive start.

Goodwin almost scored a second, before Watford went close to equalising twice: a header stung the crossbar and Lucia Leon saw her looping effort just float over the Kop-end upright.

Bourne nearly had a second with another header after getting on the end of a Bex Rayner cross (Bex making her 100th appearance in Blades colours) before Goodwin almost got her 12th goal of the season with a deflected effort rattling the crossbar. Not long after, the half time whistle brought to an end an entertaining first period played out in dreadful conditions.

The second period was a more restrained affair as United looked to restrict rather than add to their total. Late on, the superb Rachel Brown burst past her Watford marker and lofted a ball to Goodwin that our No.10 glanced narrowly wide, and United saw off a late Watford rally to secure the three points and a clean sheet.

Sheffield United 2 - 0 Crystal Palace

A week after losing out in London, United put a major dent in the high-flying Eagles’ WSL promotion hopes with a superb performance that saw disciplined defending married with incisive finishing securing United a second win in four days.

Ash Hodson and Sophie Haywood returned to the starting lineup as Iain Turner looked to keep the squad fresh with games rolling around quickly. Like against Watford, United started quickly. The ever-reliable Rayner was denied by the post after some slick attacking play. Superb defending saw the visitors restricted, with Stenson only being called into action to deny Sharpe from close range towards the midpoint of the half. Before we entered the halftime break, Rayner again almost opened the scoring – our long-serving attacking maestro sent an effort narrowly over the bar before the teams headed back down the tunnel.

United continued to control the contest in the second period, and we should have been rewarded not long after the restart. Rayner lofted a ball towards Bourne, who nodded down for Haywood to prod an effort just wide of the post! The impressive Rayner nearly pounced on a defensive error from Palace, too, but had her effort comfortably claimed by Lambourne.

With 20 minutes to go, United managed the breakthrough our dominating play deserved. A curling corner from Bex found the head of the player of the game Rachel Brown to glance home for a first goal in Blades colours for the wing back. Palace looked to respond, but United restricted anything clear cut. An audacious attempt from Sophie Barker from just inside the Palace half saw Lambourne scrambling, but our captain’s effort fell just wide of the post.

A second goal came in the closing stages, again courtesy of a set piece. Hutton curled one over the head of Lambourne and appeared to have scored a stunning Olympic goal minutes after entering the contest, but in true goal-poaching fashion, Izzy Goodwin got a glancing touch on the cross to nick the goal from Hutton and get her 12th goal of the season. With a two-goal cushion, United saw out the contest expertly to secure a second home win on the bounce and a major scalp in bettering Palace.

Sheffield United 5 - 1 Reading

It would be three wins from three and a five-star (and goal!) performance from United as we saw off former WSL high-flyers Reading in dominating fashion to secure a first double of the season!

Sigsworth returned to the lineup, and it paid dividends as United opened the scoring early on. Ash Hodson burst to the byline, and her cross for the onrushing Sigsworth was diverted home by Reading defender Stapleton.

United were a little tentative after this, with Reading having two goals ruled out for offside in quick succession, but did begin to assert themselves and should have added a second via Sigsworth. The ex-Manchester United striker somehow blazed over with the goal at her mercy. Orman in the Reading net would be tested by a slew of efforts from Kinzett, Newsham, Goodwin and Rayner as United looked for a second goal.

This would come early in the second period and it would again come from a set piece. Bex Rayner lofted a fantastic ball onto the head of Tara Bourne to nod past Orman and give United a nice cushion. The deficit was halved not long after with a cutting counterattack finished off by Maddison Perry as Reading looked to get back into the contest.

Despite this, United were spurred on and went on to add a third, Rayner getting her second assist of the contest with another super set piece. This time, Izzy Goodwin would be the benefactor with a nice finish past Orman. Minutes later, Goodwin would have a second and United a fourth: an interesting corner routine eventually saw the ball fall to our no.10 to slam home for her 14th goal of the season in her first full year in the Championship.

The last goal of the contest was arguably the best and came from who else but the superb Bex Rayner. Bamboozling Reading defenders on the wing with silky footwork, our attacking wizard made space and lofted a ball over Orman from an acute angle to add to her highlight reel of fantastic finishes in a Blades shirt. After this, United could have had a few more, but it wasn’t to be. However, another super performance saw Blades fans head home happy with three back-to-back home wins.

International round-up

Part of the reason for the slimmed-down offering on the pitch for United in February was due to an international break, alongside the continuation of the WFA Cup. United had three players on international duty during the recent break. Those were:

• Fallon Connolly-Jackson (Scotland Under 19s)

• Tara Bourne (England Under 23s)

• Fran Stenson (England Under 23s)

Fallon made two starts for the young Scots with two games against the Wales youth set-up. It was a double-header dominated by Scotland with a 5-1 win in the first clash and a 5-2 win in the second. Our young Lionesses were part of a joint camp with the senior side as they travelled to Spain for games against Spain and the Netherlands. 

After a late call-up to the camp, Fran Stenson made her debut for the young Lionesses in the camp opener against hosts Spain. Despite the 3-1 loss to La Roja, Stenson came away from the game having produced a fine performance between the sticks. A few impressive saves to deny Spanish attackers were topped via a penalty save to deny Gabarro not long after the half-time break. Tara was an unused substitute in both games, but it was a fantastic opportunity for both players to share time around the senior set-up. Alongside that, it’s because of both players' consistent performances in a Blades shirt that they gain international recognition. Congratulations to all three players on the recent call-ups!

One more thing…

Before this mammoth article finishes (sorry, editor!), it would be remiss of me to not touch upon the upcoming PGA cup final for our under 23s, after a superb first season in the WSL reserve league that has seen us beat some top, top, academies. United potentially could end the season with silverware as we take on Chelsea at Loughborough University’s stadium on April 27th at 3pm. Entry to the ground is free, and it would be full credit to Sophie Barker and the whole academy team if they could finish our first season at this level with some silverware. Do go and support the team if you can!