AFC Sudbury Ladies look to bounce back against Cambridge United following defeat to Royston Town

AFC Sudbury Ladies may have lost their latest game 5-0 but will take positives from that performance when they host Cambridge United on Sunday (2pm).

The weekend’s one-sided home defeat, to Royston Town in the Eastern Region Women’s League Premier Division, was not as bad as the scoreline suggests with four players having to leave the field through injury in the first half, leaving them with a makeshift goalkeeper.

Katie Burrows’ side battled hard under difficult circumstances and will believe they are not far away from ending a losing streak which now stands at four games.

Both teams started well but the Sudbury injury curse soon reared its ugly head again when Charley Roach-Smith pulled up with a hamstring injury.

They almost went on to take the lead 14 minutes in when Laura Guyon’s shot from the edge of the box forced a save.

They say that bad things happen in threes, but not for Sudbury Ladies though, as after Royston went close themselves, three more of their players had to leave the field through injury.

Centre-half Amanda Short pulled her hamstring while midfielder Ceri Harris injured her foot, and goalkeeper Penny Everett broke her finger, leaving Marie Seabrook to don the gloves.

Unsurprisingly, this level of disruption took its toll on Sudbury, and Royston scored four goals in the space of 15minutes, notably two excellent chipped finishes for their second and third.

A change in formation following the break, from 3-5-2 to 4-5-1 helped Sudbury to look a lot more settled, with Seabrook performing well in goal to prevent further goals.

The hosts nearly got one back from a great cross by Emma Squirrell, but neither Katie Knights or Phoebe Scott were able to convert.

The resulting goal-kick saw Royston put together a neat passing move for their right winger to hit a fifth, which is how it ended, despite some further Sudbury chances.