This blog is dedicated to the London Bees who play their home matches at the Hive. Featured will be the content I have gathered from attending matches and following the team. The Bees are an up and coming side led by Lee Burch who are currently competing in the WSL championship.
London Bees vs Aston Villa Match preview
The Bees prepare to take on Aston Villa Ladies this Sunday in the WSL championship.
The visitors find themselves unbeaten at the top of the table going into this fixture and they will be looking to continue their fine form with another away win. They managed a 1-0 success vs Lewes last time out and are yet to lose a game in the league. Their only defeat in 90 minutes came against Durham in the FA WSL Cup match day 1. They will be travelling to the hive with nothing less than a win in their sights.
The Bees are winless in the league since the back end of September and will be looking to put that right against one of the top dogs in the division. They come off the back of a positive performance, a 1-1 draw with Charlton at the hive in which the Bees were unfortunate not to take all three points. They will need to be more clinical in order beat Aston villa this time out. They will also have to shut out a dangerous Villa attack who will be pushing forward to continue their good form.
Player to watch: Nadine Hanssen
Nadine is a dutch midfield maestro who has become a key part of this Aston Villa team. She has recently added an end product to her game and is contributing with goals. She notched the winner in their 1-0 win over Lewes last time out.
London Bees 1-2 Aston villa live match feed (01/09/19)
The bees were beaten in their WSL championship fixture vs Aston villa. Here is a live feed of the game which was posted on @london_bees Twitter page as it happened.
London Bees 1-2 Aston villa post- match report
Follis free-kick stings Bees
Emma Follis’ fine long range free kick proved to be the winner for Aston villa after stubborn resistance from the London bees.
The 2-1 victory extended Aston villa’s lead at the top of the WSL and continued the bees winless run. The goal in the 76th minute was a fair reflection of villa’s quality attack which had to dig deep against a very solid defensive display from the bees.
In a first half of numerous chances for the away side, villa opened the scoring in the 26th minute with Amy West turning the ball in from close range at the far post. The London bees resisted the pressure of a second from villa making several last ditch blocks and tackles.
They were rewarded for their brave efforts soon after. With their only clear cut chance of the half, Lauren Pickett levelled the game right before the break. Taking the ball down on the turn at half way she beat her marker before running through and confidently slotting home.The second half was much more cagey and tightly contested.
There was more of a midfield battle and the bees began to create more of a goal threat while also leaking less chances for the away side. However in the 76th minute a 35 yard free kick into the top corner from Follis put the visitors back in front. Quantrill got a hand to the ball but it wasn’t enough to save the ball from going in or to earn her team the draw.
The shining performer from the game was Villa winger Sophie Haywood who was a constant threat throughout the match down the right hand side.
London Bees 1-2 Aston villa photo gallery
While at the match between the London bees and Aston villa I took some photos around the ground and some of the players in action. Here is a collection of some of these images.
London Bees 1-2 Aston villa Lee Burch Post match comments
After the match, Bees manager Lee Burch gave his honest assessment of how the game went. Here is what he had to say.
( I was given permission by Adam Rowe the media representative of the club permission to use these clips. )
A disappointing result today but you pushed them right to the end.
“Yeah i think we got what we deserved in the end. They had more possession, more shots, more of the ball. Against a villa side who are unbeaten we can take the positives away from it. They are a side which is turning professional using the money invested from the premier league which is great for the game. We’ve played poor and ran them really close. It took two set pieces for them to break us down. If we had played anywhere near where we could have today we could’ve got something from the game, not just something, three points!”
Were there any main aspects of the game that disappointed you today?
“We knocked the ball around, the first phase was good but then the third pass was poor. There were so many simple passes and some real basics today that weren’t there so we need to go back and some players need to look at themselves as there were some individual performances which were no way near what they needed to be today.”
Did you feel the final ball was what was lacking from your side today?
“There were some opportunities to do that but they haven’t played through us at ant point to cause us problems and as I say it took them two set pieces. Defensively I was please as I thought it was quite solid but we’ve got to have more going forward, a bit more about us in the final third. We had a good chance at 1-1 which we snatched at and didn’t take. Villa are not going to give you hundreds and hundreds of chances.”
Is it important to forget about the missed opportunities and move onto next week’s game?
“The frustration today is we’ve played a side top of the table, unbeaten, turning professional and we haven’t turned up yet have still ran them really close. Imagine if we had turned up and taken the lessons from the last couple of weeks. This is part of our learning. We are still in our infancy as a club, still the newest club in the division. However this is an unforgiving league. We go to Sheffield united next week so it’s not getting any easier.”
Despite the result do you feel that your team are playing in the way you are trying to get them to?
“We have been working on stuff, building from the back. We do have goals in us and we are a threat on the break but we are trying to move forward the play. The performances just weren’t there from us today.”
Arsenal WFC vs London Bees match preview
The London bees travel away to Meadow park to play WSL side Arsenal in the FA WSL Cup on Wednesday night, the final game of group. The Arsenal Women are a team competing at the top end of the Women’s super league table. They are on a very good run of form, winning each of their last five matches. This run included 7-0 and 11-1 routs over Bristol city.
The bees will need to be at the top of their game to compete with them and prevent them from scoring as freely as they have in recent weeks. The bees recent results have been quite the opposite, winless in their last five. A success over one of the most fearsome teams in the business would be a great way to build back the teams confidence and get back to winning ways, they will be going to arsenal with the intention of pulling off shock result.
Player to watch: Vivianne Miedema
Miedema has been scoring for fun for the gunners in recent weeks, notching six whilst also assisting four in their 11-1 success over Bristol City.
(11/12/19) kick off: 7:30
Arsenal WFC 9-0 London Bees Match report (15/12/19)
Gunners firing in routine cup thrashing
Arsenal WFC claim a 9-0 win over the London Bees in a goal fest at meadow park.
Katie McCabe grabbed her first hat trick for the gunners against a Bees team that will be delighted to see the back of her and her attacking partners.
The tie could have ended up being much different after Nikita Whinnett teed up Flo Gamby seconds into the game but Payraud-Magnin saved her powerful header. It was the gunners who broke the early deadlock however. Filis broke down the right hand side to set up Katie McCabe from close range. The game could have been dead and buried within the first half an hour if it wasn’t for some heroic goalkeeping from Quantrill in the bees net, saving twice from both Jill Roord and Ruby Grant in the opening exchanges to limit the damage for the Bees.
It was to no avail in the end as in the 34th minute McCabe rifled in her second from a precise cut back from Vivianne Miedema. On the stroke of half time Filis converted to give the Gunners a comfortable 3-0 lead at the break. At half time Lisa Evans was brought on to replace Viktoria Schnaderbeck and it didn’t take long for her to make her mark on the game. In the 48th minute she headed home with her first touch off the bench. And within a minute of their fourth Arsenals other half time substitute, Beth Mead, tucked home the fifth to put any Bees comeback out of the question.
Katie McCabe completed her first hat trick for the gunners in the 54th with a comfortable side foot finish into the top right corner for 6-0. A series of missed chances from the gunners, including a one on one put wide from Filis, were not to be rued as in the 77th minute Filis notched her second goal of the game. An 86th minute strike from Louise Quinn was followed quickly by a second from Lisa Evans to top off a rampant 9-0 performance from the home side.
So a surprise result wasn’t to be for the visiting Bees who were simply schooled by one of the best in the business. That means Arsenal have now scored 20 in their last two home fixtures and have kept clean sheets in 9 of their last 10. As for the Bees, despite showing they could compete with the best in their division against Aston Villa and Sheffield, this match shows that they have a lot of work to do before they can compete with the elite sides in the top division.
The standout performance from today’s match was Katie McCabe who had her shooting boots on. She was a constant threat to the bees defence and it showed as she rounded off her first hat trick in Arsenal colours.
London Bees vs Blackburn Rovers match postponed
The WSL championship fixture between The London bees and Blackburn Rovers has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch at the hive making the game unplayable. Fans have been told not to travel to the Hive for the game and the club have stated that they will “announce a new date in due course.”
London Bees 