Gloucester 0-3 Barking & Dagenham

IT WAS A FINE START to 2023 for Barking & Dagenham girls, who made the 320-mile round trip to Gloucester more than worthwhile with their best display of the season, well and truly shaking off the festive cobwebs to run out convincing winners. The district side were in full flow, scoring three goals without reply and creating more than a dozen clearcut opportunities with their dynamic and direct play.

It took a few minutes for Barking & Dagenham to hit their straps as the five-week break due to weather and Christmas, coupled with the early start and lengthy journey, meant that there was a palpable raggedness to the early play.

Ahead

Any doubts about the quality of talent in the side were quickly allayed in the seventh minute however, when Jasmine Amrane fired her side ahead in spectacular fashion.

It was Amelia Hussain who was the catalyst, cutting in from the touchline to square to skipper Tolu Elufowoju thirty yards out in the inside left position. With Dominyka Petrauskaite’s fabulous run on the opposite flank drawing defenders away, space opened up in the middle and the captain intelligently squared to Amrane who had crept forward to fill the gap.

First touch. Glance up. Spot picked. Ball dispatched. Barking & Dagenham were one up with a fierce drive that bypassed the keeper, dipping in from the edge of the box.

Less than a minute later, it should have been two.

Chloe Ajewole won possession in the centre of defence and strode into midfield, causing panic, and picking out Amrane in space. The Gascoigne playmaker passed on to Elufowoju, only for the pacy striker to drag wide when well placed.

Chances

Petrauskaite’s attacking intent forged a brace of chances as forceful running saw her burst through a barrage of challenges to fashion a pair of openings that narrowly failed to add to the tally.

And Elufowoju had a golden opportunity to double the lead two minutes before the interval when Barking & Dagenham cleared a corner to Raima Hossain in a central position between the box and centre circle. An exquisite through-ball threaded straight into the forward’s path as she sprinted clear on goal, with just the keeper to beat. The resulting effort shanked left though, and the visitors went into the break just one goal to the good.

At this point, the game was still in the balance: Barking & Dagenham could have been duly punished for their profligacy as they understandably wilted in the second half; or they could draw confidence from their encouraging display and push for more.

Thankfully, it was the latter.

Breached

For a while though, Aaliyah Cross in the home goal was having none of it.

In the second half’s first minute, she was down well at the near post to deny Amrane a second after quick feet and interplay around the Gloucester box from Petrauskaite and Rush Green’s Sasha Stoute.

And five minutes later, Stoute’s influence in midfield told once more as she slipped in Hossein for a further well-struck effort that drew a fine save.

With seventeen minutes remaining though, the Gloucester walls were finally breached as Amrane’s dangerous corner dropped into the six-yard box with intent. It was Elufowoju who wanted the ball most, gobbling up the chance to convert from close range for her fourth of the season, and her third in three games.

With the cushion of a two-goal lead, Barking & Dagenham surged with confidence and became rampant, knocking the ball around with purpose and menace in a bid for more.

Brilliant

Two minutes after the goal, Amrane fired wide when tee-ed up by Elufowoju.

And three minutes after that, another Amrane set-piece fell to Hossein who was denied for a second time by the brilliant Cross, who was up sharply to block Elufowoju’s follow-up attempt.

Next, Elufowoju almost wriggled the ball over the line from close range, squirming one past Cross’s attempted block, only for the keeper to show great agility to swivel around 180 degrees to snaffle up the ball just before it crossed the line.

The Gloucester stopper then repelled Amrane’s fierce drive, before frustrating the same player after great build up play from Ajewole and Elufowoju.

With time running out though, the visitors finally grabbed the goal they deserved – and when it came, it capped off a fabulous move.

As with the first, it began with Hussain – this time on the right – who slipped in Elufowoju on the edge of the box. A dangerous square ball then flashed across goal, narrowly evading Amrane’s marauding run forward, but finding Petrauskaite cutting in from the left towards the penalty spot. A curled first-time finish gave the valiant Cross no chance as the ball looped into the top corner for 3-0 and a win that provides a great platform for the rest of the year to come.

Barking & Dagenham: Ajewole (George Carey), Skendelis (Godwin), Arhin (Northbury), Hossain (Northbury), Petrauskaite (Richard Alibon), Elufowoju (Rush Green), Stoute (Rush Green), Rimkeviciute (William Bellamy), Amrane (Gascoigne), Hussain (Richard Alibon), Elufowoju (Rush Green)