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FC ST HELENSWOMEND I G I T A L M A G A Z I N EAUGUSTE D I T I O N N O . 3 Message

CONTENTS: EDITION #3ROSIE’S THOUGHTS ONAUGUSTDERBY DAY AT HOMEMATCH REPORTS:AUGUST’S ACTIONOur manager gives her thoughts onthe season so far.Laura Gates photographs our firsthome fixture of the season.An account of our games so far inSeason #5. 03090410JODIE TALBOTT ON HERACL RECOVERYJodie’s long wait for her ACL surgeryis finally over.1213FC HOLIDAYS ANDFIXTURESSPOTLIGHT ON...August’s player of the month, aschosen by Rosie.FC travels and our upcoming gamesin September.

ROSIE HAS STRENGTHENED THESQUAD WITH PLAYERS LIKE AVANATHAN WRIGHT HAS ALSO BEENRECRUITED TO THE STAFFA TEAM UNITED WITH ONEGOAL IN MINDSEASON #5: ROSIE’S TAKE ON AUGUSTROSIE’S THOUGHTSI feel incredibly fortunateto have such strengthand depth in our squadright now. Everyone islooking sharp and thedrive to play for thisincredible club is there. At the start of theseason, I encouraged thegirls to be a proactivefootball team. They’veimplemented thatapproach extremely well,they are doing what theyshould be without beingtold, on and off the ball.Our play is much faster,the movement andreading situations havebeen really impressive. Our recent performanceshave led to great results,my main message duringand after each game isnot to get complacent.It’s easy for any team tolose focus and getcareless when leading by4 or 5 goals, but we’vemanaged to use thosegames to learn and trydifferent things. Tougher challenges willcome our way and we’vegot to be ready for them.I understand it’s veryearly, and we areapproaching it one gameat a time, but for me it’simportant to staypositive and always keepin mind what we’restriving for. If we losesight of that, it’s easy tolet our standards slip.I couldn't have asked fora better start to theleague campaign, butthere’s a finishing lineand that’s our main goal.Rosie#UPTHESTRIPES

STRIPES REPORTAUGUST: MATCH REPORTSALL THE RECENTACTION ON THEPITCH4 FC ST HELENSMUIRHEAD 20', BEARD55', 68', WOOD 70'0MSB WOOLTONNorth West Women’sRegional League, HeronEccles, Sun 17 August We kicked off our fifthseason in front of a largecrowd at Heron Eccles inLiverpool. Withtemperatures soaring, theconditions were difficultfor both teams, but thegame did not disappoint. MSB Woolton started thegame brightly, enjoyingspells of possession andputting us under pressure.Despite their intent, theystruggled to create clearchances in front of goalwhich allowed us to growinto the game. The openinggoal came after a spell ofdetermination in midfield-where back-to-backheaders won us vitalground. Ash Beardpounced on the looseball, driving into spacebehind Woolton’sbackline before beingbrought down by thegoalkeeper inside the 18-yard box. Defender JessMuirhead stepped up forthe penalty to give usthe lead. The second half saw amuch more convincingand dominantperformance from ourside. While Woolton hadenjoyed their strongestspell in the opening 20minutes, we settled intoour rhythm after thebreak, controllingpossession, dictatingtempo, and creatingchance after chance. Thebalance of play swungfirmly in our favour, withWoolton rarely able tobreak through or troubleour back line.BY JESS MUIRHEAD

The second goal camefrom a typical link-upbetween Sophie Griffithsand Ash Beard, with Ashmaking no mistake infinishing to double ouradvantage. But Beardwasn’t done yet! For thethird, new signing SarahWebster showcased herskill down the right side,finding her way to thebyline before crossingthe ball across thegoalmouth. Beard wasthere again- this timefrom close range- tobundle the ball over theline and make it three. The final word camefrom a familiar source.Rach Miranda’s set-piecedeliveries had beenthreatening all game,and it felt only right thatone of them finallyresulted in the fourthgoal. A trademarkheader from Rach Woodarrowed into thebottom-right corner,sealing a convincing winand setting the perfecttone for the seasonahead.A hot start, four goals,and a statement ofintent. Season five wasunderway. AUGUST: MATCH REPORTS8 FC ST HELENSMITCHELL 16', MCKENNY23', 85', GRIFFITHS 28'BEARD 35', 38', 73',HUSSEY 65'0 PILKINGTONNorth West Women’sRegional League, SMSSoccer Park, Wed 20August FC St Helens Womenopened our home campaignin emphatic fashion,defeating our local rivalsPilkington in a dominant 8-0 victory. After the narrow1-0 defeat the last time thetwo teams met in a cupfinal two years prior, theStripes went into the gamemotivated to makeamends- and certainlydelivered.The breakthrough cameearly in the game. AshBeard collected the ballfrom a throw in, beforeturning quickly to play aball into the box. SarahMitchell then calmlyslotted home her first goalof the season. The second soon followed.Sarah Webster drove at thePilkington defence beforesliding a ball down the lineto former Pilkington playerSophie Griffiths. Playingagainst her old side,Griffiths rose to theoccasion, driving the ballacross the box for AvaMcKenny to finish clinically.Sophie Griffiths then addedher own name to thescoresheet, side-footinginto the bottom cornerafter another strong runfrom Ash Beard. Withinhalf an hour, we were SOPHIE GRIFFITHS RAN THE SHOW AGAINST HER FORMER TEAM

AUGUST: MATCH REPORTSthree goals to the good,and Griffiths had a goaland assist against herformer team. The first half saw twomore goals- this timefrom our prolific striker,Ash Beard. She firstshrugged off theattentions of thecentre-half beforevolleying home, thenlatched onto a SarahMitchell through ball topoke it under the keeper.Five goals in the opening45 minutes put theStripes in full control. To their credit,Pilkington respondedwith more resilience inthe second half andbegan asking questionsof the Stripes’ defence.Substitute goalkeeperNicole Cassar was calledinto action and produceda couple of importantsaves to protect theclean sheet.However, we continuedto dominate, striking thewoodwork on severaloccasions and forcingthe keeper into actionrepeatedly. The sixthcame after Liv Husseywas rewarded for herhard work on the leftflank, scoring a greatstrike from distance tomake it six. Ash Beard then completed her hat-trick with a loopingfinish from inside thebox, before Ava Mckennygrabbed her second ofthe night, beating thekeeper at the near post. A statement 8-0 victoryin the local derby againstPilkington emphasisedjust how far FC St HelensWomen have come inrecent years. With aclean sheet, eight goals,and contributionsthroughout the team, itwas the perfect responseto the cup final defeattwo years ago and astrong marker for theseason ahead. 10 FC ST HELENSHUSSEY 5', 60' BEARD10', 70', BARKER 15',35', WOOD 40', 75',HART 67', 80'0 RADCLIFFENorth West Women’sRegional League, SMSSoccer Park, Sun 24AugustOur third game in justseven days saw us faceRadcliffe on home turf,once again battling-PLAYER OF THE MATCH IN THE LOCAL DERBY, EMMA BURNHAM

AUGUST: MATCH REPORTShot and humidconditions. Despite thetesting weather, theStripes produced ablistering performance,dominating possessionand pressing relentlesslyin another statementvictory.From the first whistle,we played with intensity,pressing high andforcing Radcliffe intomistakes. Our quickrecovery of possessionallowed us to control thetempo and play someexcellent football. Downthe right flank, SophieGriffiths once again hadsimilar joy, this timelinking up well with TessLittler, and creating twoof our goals.Liv Hussey opened thescoring early on with acomposed finish into thebottom corner afterreacting quickest to aloose ball in the box. In-form striker Ash Beardthen grabbed her sixthgoal in just three games,before Becky Barkerextended the lead with aclever looping strikeover the keeper. Barkerstruck again soon after,blasting home for hersecond of the match,before a superb deliveryfrom Rachel Miranda wasmet at the back post by Rach Wood- a familiarcombination from set-pieces. The Stripes showed nosigns of slowing down inthe second half. It wasexcellent to have LauraHart back on thescoresheet for theStripes; Hart suffered along-term injury lastyear that kept her outfor most of the season.She struck twice, oncefrom a corner, and alsoplayed a part in RachWood’s second goal ofthe afternoon after herlong-range free-kickeffort was parried intoWood’s path. Beard and Hussey bothdoubled their tallies inthe second half, withboth pushing hard for ahat-trick as wecontinued to pile thepressure on Radcliffe. Intotal, five differentplayers bagged braces,underlining the team’sdepth, creativity, andattacking ruthlessness.The final whistleconfirmed anotheremphatic victory for FCSt Helens, one built ontenacity, teamwork, anda desire to make astatement early on inthe season.22 GOALS IN THE OPENING WEEK OF THE SEASON FOR THE STRIPES

AUGUST: MATCH REPORTSThe away fixture againstPilkington proved achallenging game.Pilkington started thegame the stronger of thetwo sides, using theblustery conditions totheir advantage to pin usback in our own half. Wefound ourselves two nildown in the openingtwenty minutes,conceding from an owngoal and a loose ball froma corner. It was clear we needed aresponse quickly, andfound it when SarahMitchell pulled one backfor the Stripes afterlatching on to a long ballover the top, before adetermined BeckyBarker equalised notlong before half time.Becky’s goal capped offan impressive first halfperformance that setthe standard for herteammates to aspire toin the second half.Despite chances beforethe break, we headed inlevel. We emerged from halftime determined to putright the wrongs of thefirst half, with SarahMitchell scoring again toput the Stripes ahead forthe first time in thefixture. However,another loose ball at theback led to an equaliserfor Pilkington, making it3-3 not long after wehad found ourselves inthe lead for the firsttime. The setback seemed togalvanise the Stripes; webegan to dictate thetempo of the game andplay some of our bestfootball. Two assists forEmma Burnham camefrom her playing cleverballs from the midfield,leading to a goal apiecefor Liv Hussey andSophie Griffiths.Griffiths was delightedto get another goalagainst her former sideafter a greatperformance in the reverse fixture. With us leading 5-3, wemade substitutions totry and put the game tobed. Substitute DervlaMannion, the Stripes’youngest player at just17, came off the bench,using her pace and eyefor goal to get in the boxand get herself on thescoresheet twice withtwo fantastic goals. Despite a shaky startand conceding for thefirst time this season,we showed realdetermination to getourselves back in thegame after going two nildown. The Stripesshowed resilience andwere able to use theirquality and attackingprowess to get anothervital three points. 7 FC ST HELENSMITCHELL, 30, 48,BARKER, 40, HUSSEY,55 GRIFFITHS, 68,MANNION, 75, 843 PILKINGTONNorth West Women’sRegional League,Ruskin Drive SportsGround, Sun 31 August MUIRHEAD (OG) 10',BUTTER 21', 52' BECKY BARKER SHOWED HERQUALITY IN THE DERBY

CELEBRATING THE FIRST GOAL IN THE LOCAL DERBYRACH MIRANDA WITH A USUAL PIN POINT DELIVERY CLICK THE ICON TO FOLLOW LAURA GATESSARAH WEBSTER, COMPOSED AT THE BACKA FAMILIAR FACE WELCOMED BACK TO WINDLESHAWDERBYD AYAT THE SMSSOCCER PARK

UNDER THE FLOODLIGHTS AT WINDLESHAW SARAH SCORESHER FIRST GOAL INTHE LOCAL DERBYAVA MCKENNY NETTED A BRACE IN THE GAMEAN IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR STHELENS LOCAL, LIV HUSSEYCELEBRATING GOAL #8MEG GEARING UP TO FACE PILKSA FAMILIAR FACE WELCOMED BACK TO WINDLESHAW

Sometimes players likeSoph can beoverlooked becausethey are so consistentand reliable. Sophiegives us so much goingforward with hercreativity, but whathas stood out to methis month is herrelentless work ethic,tracking back andsupporting the teamdefensively. Welldone, Fluffy!INTRODUCING: OUR PLAYER OF THE MONTHRosieAUGUST’S STAR PLAYERSOPHIE GRIFFITHS

LATEST NEWS: JODIE’S ACL SURGERYKICKING OFF RECOVERYTwo years ago, while playing for FC St Helens Women, JodieTalbott tore her ACL. Since then, she has faced a challenging twoyear wait for surgery- a stark reminder of the challenges femalefootballers continue to face in today’s game. Despite an urgent referral in August 2023, Jodiespent two years on NHS waiting lists, before finallyundergoing ACL reconstruction surgery on August4 this year. The injury, sustained in April 2023,has kept Jodie sidelined and unable to play. Whatshould have been a recovery timeline of monthsturned into years, highlighting the difficult realitymany female footballers face when it comes toaccessing timely medical care.th“I did explain I played football and trained at least3 times a week, but it didn’t make a difference forsurgery. I suppose it’s because they look at it asgrassroots,” Jodie shared. While the surgery marks the first step towardrecovery, the long delay has not only impactedJodie’s football career but also her physical andmental well-being. “If I didn’t have the girls (Jodieis a mum to Penelope, six, and Tiffany, nine) andmy fiancé I definitely would be in a differentplace.” Despite her struggles, Jodie has remained aconstant presence for FC St Helens Women,regularly attending matches to cheer on herteammates. Her resilience and drive to make areturn to the game serve as a true inspiration toeveryone in the squad.The road to rehabilitation will be challenging, butJodie’s determination to return to the pitch isstronger than ever. She has been documenting herACL surgery recovery on social media, pushingevery day to improve and hit milestones. Pleasefollow along as Jodie shares her journey torecovery and aims to get back on the pitch withher team.JODIE, A LEAGUE WINNER WITHFC ST HELENS TWO YEARS AGO JODIE’S TIK TOK DOCUMENTSHER ACL RECOVERYClick here to follow

When Malta metWhen Malta metJudeJudeNic celebratingNic celebratingher town’sher town’sfeast in Maltafeast in MaltaAsh’s solo tripAsh’s solo tripto Mallorcato MallorcaTHE STRIPES GO TRAVELLING...Jack embracingJack embracingthe culturethe cultureduring his trip toduring his trip toAsia with EmilyAsia with EmilyLaura on her travels inLaura on her travels inTenerifeTenerifeLATEST NEWS: HOLIDAY GOALSThe Burnhams in BrazilThe Burnhams in BrazilTess’ special trip to SantoriniTess’ special trip to Santorini

FIXTUREShome14 SEP 2:00 PMSMS SOCCER PARKseptemberFC ST HELENS WOMENNWWRLhome28 SEP 2:00 PMSMS SOCCER PARKVS ROCHDALE AFCVS SALFORD CITY FC

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