We were made to rue missed chances in the second half as our pre-season opener ended goalless in Seville, but there was a number of positives to take from Martin Ho’s side first pre-season outing in 2025/26.
With temperatures at almost 40 degrees at kick-off, building on an intense week of training in Spain, it was no surprise that both sides gradually grew into the game at Jesus Navas Stadium and, although we threaten on occasions, we were indebted to a superb stop from Lize Kop midway through the first period to keep it level.
Our best opportunities of the contest came five minutes after the restart, Jess Naz denied by Isabel Alvarez Tenorio on the stretch and that was quickly followed by Martha Thomas’ shot on the turn tipped around the post by Esther Sullastres Ayuso. Matilda Vinberg was then denied by the hosts' shot stopper as we were unable to find the breakthrough in a much-improved second-half display.
It was a useful first outing in pre-season as a number of players completed 90 minutes and defender Tōko Koga, who joined last month from Feyenoord, made her first appearance for the Club, giving our new Head Coach plenty to work with in the coming weeks.
_More details to follow..._