By 
Alan wasn’t the only Hutton to score for Villa this weekend – as the Aston Villa Ladies suffered defeat at home in a game of two halves.
Words by Adam Nunn (@AdamReapa)
Edited by Regan Foy (@FindFoy)
In only the Aston Villa Ladies’ second Saturday night game of the season, the ladies played host to the London Bees, and looked to pick up three points and leapfrog their opposition in the table. Villa started with an unchanged side from their previous game at Lewes.
The Aston Villa Ladies could not have had a better start, coming out of the blocks fast and putting the Bees under instant pressure – forcing a corner early on into the game.
With less than two minutes gone, Jodie Hutton broke through and found herself driving the ball home past the keeper and putting the home side a goal ahead.
The pressure continued, and Kerri Welsh came close to adding to the Ladies’ brilliant start, but placed it inches over the bar.
And this was the same story for much of the first half, with a lack of a clinical finish causing an issue for the home side.
Sophie Haywood worked hard both on and off the ball, taking knocks, taking on defenders and creating pressure – and her effort was unmatched.
As the half was beginning to eclipse, the London Bees began to build momentum and there was a feeling around the place that something was close to happening.
And it did. The Aston Villa Ladies failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Merrick Will who hit the ball from long-range and into the bottom corner, meaning the sides went in even at the break.
A game of two halves has never been more apparent it seems.
Early into the second half, the Villa Ladies defence looked to be sleeping as they gave away a free-kick and the Bees played a simple ball into the box, allowing Rachel Unitt to score past a stranded Sian Rogers.
As the ladies struggled to get back into the game, centre-forward Kerri Welsh was replaced by Ashlee Brown – who had played at right-back in a number of earlier games.
In the melee of substitutions that continued, Bees nearly grabbed another and would have if it wasn’t for a fantastic save by Sian Rogers in the Villa goal.
And Rogers continued to make save after save as Bees ramped up the pressure.
Eventually, the pressure paid off and it was former Villan Destiny Toussaint who got the London Bees third, who buried a loose ball.
