It was honours even at Walton Hall Park as Everton shared the spolis with Aston Villa in a hard-fought 1-1 draw, writes Lucas Cobley.
Both sides had their moments in a cagey encounter that saw late drama, but neither managed to claim all three points.
Shaun Goater’s Villa side started the match strongly, dominating the majority of possession with Canadian forward Adriana Leon dictating the game early on.
The away side provided the first scoring opportunity with a perfectly weighted pass from centre-forward, Rachel Daly to Leon, who skipped past her marker. However, her pass across goal lacked a finishing touch.
Leon continued to torment Everton’s defence throughout the first half, especially Everton fullback, Lucy Hope as ‘The Villains’ dominated the opening stages.
Villa piled on the pressure with left winger, Ebony Salmon going close in the 13th minute with a well struck effort on the edge of the box, but her shot was expertly saved by Irish goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.
It was two chances in quick succession for Villa, as a minute later, Leon passed two defenders to force another fine stop from Brosnan.
The visitor’s dominance was awarded as they capitalized to go 1-0 up when Noelle Maritz’s pinpoint cross found Daly, who leapt above the Everton defenders to direct an excellently placed header into the bottom right corner on thirty minutes.
Much to the home fans’ dismay, Villa’s wingers continued to run the show, with Leon and Salmon testing the Everton defence, with the two linking up to force yet another stop from the impressive Brosnan just before the half time whistle.
The second half saw Everton show more intent, with Brian Sorensen’s substitutions injecting fresh energy into the game.
A great ball from debutant Hayley Ladd picked out Nigerian striker, Toni Payne who made a darting run to put a dangerous ball into the box, however, no one was there to tap it in; a nearly moment for ‘The Toffees’
Everton finally found their breakthrough in the 89th minute as Veatriki Sarri’s thunderous left-footed strike from outside the box flew into the bottom corner, snatching a dramatic equaliser for the home side as the crowd went wild.
Both sides pushed for a stoppage time winner, but had to settle for the draw. Villa will kick themselves over their missed chances, while Everton will take confidence from their late comeback to secure a point.
