Swansea City Ladies suffered a 2-0 loss to PAOK in their opening UEFA Women’s Champions League game this afternoon.
The Swans starting XI featured Emma Beynon, who had remarkably given birth to her baby son just 12 weeks ago, as well as new signing Lucy Finch, with fellow new recruits Chelsea Herbert, Emily Freeman and Monet Legall named on the bench
With temperatures nearing 38 degrees in Greece, the home side took the lead after 16 minutes at the Katerini Municipal Stadium, as Eva Vlassopoulos slotted home calmly from inside the penalty area.
Stacey John-Davis had the Swans best chance in the first half, after combining well with Ellie Lake, but the striker’s shot went wide of the post.
Claire Skinner in the Swans goal was in fine form and made another crucial save in the opening minutes of the second period.
The lively Vlassopoulos, who had been a thorn in the Swans defence all afternoon, completed her brace in the 70th minute by heading home a cross from Mitkou, giving the Swans an uphill battle to get anything from the game.
New signing Monet Legall was introduced late on and almost made an immediate impact as she chased down a pass back to PAOK goalkeeper Chatzicharistou, who looked to clear to safety but saw the ball deflect over the crossbar off the substitute.
Sadly the game ended in defeat for Ceri Phillips’ side, but he and his players can be proud of the way they battled throughout, giving a good account of themselves in the searing heat and against a team who are full-time professionals.
The Swans will round off the mini tournament against either Scottish Women’s Premier League side Rangers or Hungarian outfit Ferencvarosi on Sunday.
Featured Image: Swansea City Ladies