Saltdean United (A) Matchday Blog

On Sunday Pompey made the trip to Hill Park to play Saltdean United in the League Cup group stage.

Saltdean play in the FAWNL Division 1 South East (Tier 4) and currently sit mid table.

Hill Park Stadium is a situated right at the end of a countryside track. There was very minimal parking but plenty of residential roads nearby.

The stadium has recently received a major modernisation and i have to say it's very impressive. The artificial pitch has a main building, food outlet, turnstile and outdoor seating on one side and a small stand on the other side.

This is a stadium will be the envy of almost every team in Tier 4 and a large number in Tier 3 as well. It's perfect for this level of Women's football.

When we arrived the players were warming up and we got ourselves some food and put the flags up. All the staff were friendly and very welcoming. There were a number of familiar Pompey fans in the crowd. It was great to see so many there.

The Pompey Women line-up looked very strong, with Jay wanting to maintain momentum after a strong start to the season. Saltdean had some familiar ex-Pompey faces in their squad, including Dani Lane, Hayley Bridge, and Charlie Boswell.

Pompey started the game well. Knocking the ball around and playing very positive attacking football. After a number of attacks Pompey took the lead when Sofia Mallon muscled off her defender to fire home.

Saltdean equalised soon after when the assistant referee gave a ridiculously soft free kick which Saltdean scrambled home after a bit of pinball inside the Pompey area.

Pompey continued to dominate the ball, but our final third play lacked that bit of quality to convert possession into goals. We had several good chances but due to either a lack of desire to shoot, or a poor final ball we didn't manage to regain the lead before half time.

Pompey started the second half as they left off the first, dominating possession. Our final third play was getting better and most of our threat was coming from our wide players with the full backs seeming much more willing to push on and support our attacks.

Eventually it took to the 77th min for Pompey to finally break down a very resilient Saltdean. Sofia Mallon with a strike of the highest quality. The ball was spread out to the left wing, she took one touch to cut inside before smashing home and unstoppable shot into the corner. It was out of her feet and in the net in the blink of an eye. A superb strike.

Two minutes later she had her hattrick and Pompey's third goal to kill the game off.

One of the greatest players of Pompey Women's recent history is Sophie Quirk who famously wore the number 12. Sofia Mallon looks very similar to Quirk. She's athletic, quick, skilful and has a hell of a finish on her.

We met her after the game and my son William managed to grab a photo. She seems a lovely, grounded women. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her develop as the season goes on. I think she will be a big hit with fans.

Having been to all the Pompey Women games this season I can really see the team starting to gel, but I also believe there is much more to come from this squad. You watch how we play, the speed we move the ball and the options Jay has and you can't help but feel when this squad clicks we could see some very entertaining football this season.

Next up for Pompey is Plymouth away in the league.