- Crewe draw on opening day
- Fallon up and running already
- Fisher hands out four debuts
Amanda Fallon started the season on fire as she opened up her account for the new season, but the Alex had to settle for a draw in the end.
Crewe Alexandra welcomed Blackburn CS to Crewe Alexandra in the Community for the opening game of the North West Regional Women's Premier Division.
Matt Fisher handed four debuts out they included Charlie Hignett, Leah Collins, Katie Gibbons and Caitlin Bradbury.
Bradbury partnered Emma Heath at the heart of the defence meaning the two centre backs were a combined age of 32.
Crewe started the better of the two sides with most of their attacks coming from wide areas courtesy of Collins and Hignett, but both teams struggled to carve out a clear cut chance.
A blistering counter-attack should have been converted by Crewe after they defended a Blackburn corner but the Rovers 'keeper pulled of a fabulous save low down.
With the first half relatively short on exciting moments, the second half was the complete opposite. A sluggish start by the hosts saw them concede a penalty in the opening minutes of the half.
A through ball caught the home defence out and Hannah Holloway was adjudged to have brought the striker down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot.
Holloway dusted herself off quickly before making a fantastic save low down to her right hand side.
Blackburn kept up the early pressure with a strike hitting the home crossbar. Immediately after that it was Crewe's as Gibbons struck the post from close-range.
The Alex did regain some composure and took the lead on the stroke of the hour when Gibbons played in Amanda Fallon and she turned her marker before slotting past the keeper to open the scoring.
Grace Duckworth replaced Fallon as Fisher played his only card in an attempt to hold onto the lead as legs started to tire. The hosts were punished as an effort from distance was too much for Holloway to deal with meaning the points were shared on the opening day.
Matt Fisher was on hand to provide his post-match thoughts, he said: "Overall we are ok with the point.
"We knew with us missing certain personnel our options were limited but the players that were available put in a hell of a shift."
