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St. James' Park
Becky Langley's side put five past Blackburn Rovers Women, with top scorer Shania Hayles stealing the headlines with her second hat-trick of the season and netting her 15th goal in the process.
Goals from Deanna Cooper and an outstanding lob from Freya Gregory helped United pick up their ninth league win of the campaign, albeit Tyler Tolland ensured there was no clean sheet after converting a late penalty.
After a sluggish start at Ewood Park, United took the lead in the 11th minute thanks to two quality moments.
Demi Stokes was allowed space out wide, and she duly picked out Hayles with an inch-perfect cross, with United's leading scorer making no mistake in heading over Poppy Soper for her 13th league goal of the season.
Tia Primmer was proving to be a threat in behind for Blackburn with her pace pushing her through on goal, but after a wide touch towards the byline, Claudia Moan stood firm and palmed away her effort.
United registered their second shot on target of the game with just five minutes left to play in the first half when Gregory cut in from the right following a short corner. However, after she unleashed a zipping effort towards the near post, Soper got down well to keep the deficit at one goal.
Despite a slow first-half display, Newcastle came flying out of the blocks after the restart and looked set to double their advantage.
Lois Joel picked out Hayles, who was left unmarked in the six-yard box, but a point-blank save from Soper denied her a second of the afternoon.
However, minutes later and Gregory made it 2-0 after she took her time on the left wing before, from what looked like an impossible angle, delicately floating the ball over Soper's head and into the far corner.
As the game ticked over the hour mark, Newcastle really stamped their authority by scoring a third. Fresh from getting on the scoresheet herself, Gregory whipped in a dangerous corner to the back post and Cooper snuck in to head past the helpless Soper.
Rovers weren't out of the game, however, as Newcastle failed to clear a free kick which eventually bounced to the edge of the area and sat up nicely for Chloe Williams, but her volley was well tipped over by Moan.
Newcastle's dominance from set pieces continued when Gregory, yet again, delivered a dangerous inswinging corner to the six-yard box, and Hayles was bravest to flick home.
Hayles knew she was in a tight race for the league's golden boot, and netting her second hat-trick of the season certainly did her plenty of favours. A beautifully timed reverse pass from Joel found the Jamaica international in her stride and she then curled her effort into the top corner.
The Lasses' top scorer for the season almost nabbed a fourth when Soper failed to claim a high Charlotte Wardlaw cross, but Hayles couldn't manage to keep her effort down with the goal at her mercy.
There was a special moment in the 88th minute for the club's record appearance maker, Grace Donnelly, who made her Championship debut on what was the final game before she leaves the club.
Alas, it wasn't to be a clean sheet for Donnelly as Liv Watt brought down Crompton, who was through on goal, allowing Toland to convert from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
Newcastle United Women: Claudia Moan (Grace Donnelly 88), Charlotte Wardlaw, Hannah Greenwood (Liv Watt 59), Deanna Cooper, Demi Stokes (c), Rachel Furness, Lois Joel, Emily Murphy (Katie Barker 79), Beth Lumsden (Jasmine McQuade 59), Shania Hayles, Freya Gregory
Subs not used: Hannah Hawkins, Amy Andrews, Poppy Pritchard
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following Saturday's entertaining stalemate against Blackburn Rovers
Anel Ahmedhodžić cancelled out Yūki Ōhashi's second-half opener in a game that Rovers needed to win to secure a top six finish
Boss Wilder made seven changes for the final game of the regular season
Adam Davies made his first start since the end of August
whilst Gilchrist also returned to the starting Xi
Brooks and Peck also started against Rovers
The first half turned out to be a relatively quiet affair
with little in the way of goalmouth action
Rovers had two half-hearted penalty appeals waved away as Cantwell went down easily when challenged by Gilchrist on both occasions
whilst Cannon was denied on the angle by Toth from O'Hare pass at the other end
an onrushing Hamer couldn't divert an inviting centre from Brooks into the net from close-range
before Adam Davies had to be alert as Brittian looked to catch him out at the far post with a dipping effort
The contest sparked into life on 50 minutes as OHASHI scored sliding in to meet Brittain's cross with the aid of a deflection off Holding
who was then booked for a foul on Cantwell
United responded as AHMEDHODZIC applied the finishing touch after Holding had kept alive Hamer's back post cross
moments after Cannon was seemingly upended by Travis in the penalty area
Brewster and Seriki replaced Hamer and Gilchrist
as Peck saw an effort tipped behind by Toth
prior to Tom Davies returning to action as he replaced Souza
The final ten minutes saw Blackburn throw on attacking players
chasing a goal that would have secured them a play-off berth
but it was United who had the better chances
only for Cannon to fire over following good work by Brooks
before O'Hare was denied by Toth in added time
PALM BEACH, Fla. – Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn gave her state of the franchise at the NFL’s annual meetings on Tuesday afternoon
Blackburn discussed a number of topics, including why the team allowed Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson to seek a trade ahead of free agency
Hendrickson is seeking a new contract with the Bengals for the second straight year
The two sides are trying to work out an extension
The Bengals aren’t a franchise that makes a habit out of trading away their players
“As you're trying (to put) all these pieces together
you have certain limitations eventually,” Blackburn said
and thought the strength of interest out there was going to be at a certain level
we said that it would be okay to at least explore and so we don't do that all the time
It's just something that we'll keep working through.”
Blackburn opted not to make any definitive statements on if a trade is still on the table
The Bengals did receive interest from other teams
but the compensation likely didn’t match what Cincinnati was hoping to get in return
And that’s why he’s still on the roster and the two sides continue to negotiate
This leaves the Bengals and Hendrickson at a standstill and his long-term future with the Bengals remains uncertain at the moment
Blackburn said she “doesn’t know what will happen” with this situation
“I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what's going to happen,” Blackburn said
we'll just have to see how it all plays out.”
The Bengals have already paid wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason
leaving Hendrickson as the lone player who is still seeking an extension
is it feasible to think the Bengals can pay Hendrickson what the market is after spending the amount of money they did for Chase and Higgins
Blackburn says the ball is now in Hendrickson’s court
“I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at,” Blackburn said
“I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point
we have all the respect in the world for him
And so maybe we'll find a way to get something to work
It would be in the best interest for both sides to decide on whether or not Hendrickson is going to be traded in the next few weeks
The NFL Draft is around the corner and if the Bengals opt not to deal Hendrickson before then
other teams will fill their need at defensive end with draft prospects
Hendrickson has outperformed his current deal
and the Bengals have acknowledged they want to give him a raise
One of the biggest stalling points for this specific negotiation is the market for the defensive end position exploding with Myles Garrett
Danielle Hunter and Maxx Crosby all resetting the market this offseason
he wants to be compensated appropriately for his production over the last four seasons with the Bengals as one of the top edge rushers in the NFL
Hendrickson’s annual salary of $21 million expected for the upcoming season ranks outside the top 10 for his position
The disconnect right now is centered around what Bengals have offered Hendrickson to this point and what he believes his contract should look like based off the market for his age and position
Cincinnati’s front office has a number they are comfortable with giving Hendrickson and to this point
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers at Bramall Lane on Saturday; Blackburn fall short in Championship play-off bid
Anel Ahmedhodzic struck Sheffield United’s equaliser as Blackburn fell short in their Sky Bet Championship play-off bid with a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane
Yuki Ohashi gave Blackburn a second-half lead and briefly lifted them into the top six before Ahmedhodzic levelled it up nine minutes later to deny the visitors victory
Blackburn needed a win and for other results to go their way
while the Blades were already assured of third spot and made seven changes after last week's win at Stoke
seven points adrift of the top six before a 13-point haul from their previous five matches catapulted them back into contention
were one of five clubs with play-off hopes going into the final day
Blades striker Tom Cannon forced Balazs Toth into a low save and Gus Hamer somehow steered Andre Brooks' cross off-target from in front of goal
Rovers' only first-half chance fell to defender Callum Brittain
whose curling cross-shot was tipped over by Adam Davies
while Toth was in action again before the break
But the visitors made a flying start to the second period
with Ohashi firing low beyond Davies from Brittain's pass inside the penalty area to send the away end into raptures
That goal lifted Blackburn up to sixth with 40 minutes remaining
Ohashi lashed another effort over soon after
but Rovers' lead lasted just nine minutes as Ahmedhodzic stabbed home following Rob Holding's header back across goal
The equaliser appeared to take the bounce out of Blackburn's stride and Sydie Peck's deflected shot was well-saved by Toth
Rovers midfielder Tyrhys Dolan's drive was held at the second attempt by Davies at the other end before Cannon spurned a golden chance for the Blades
firing over from five yards after being teed up by O'Hare
Toth pulled off another excellent save from O'Hare in the closing stages before Rovers' last chance fell to substitute Emmanuel Dennis
who made a hash of his header from a corner
who will face the Blades in the first leg of their play-off semi-final on Thursday
Respect in terms of what Bristol City have done this season
"Hopefully we'll show that the team who finishes third doesn't automatically lose in the play-offs
that the team who doesn't win play-offs can win one and that the team that hasn't been to Wembley for years can go to Wembley
We know it will be a tough two games to get to Wembley
but it will be tough for the opposition as well
it's going to be here for another 130-odd years and we will win a play-off campaign
"The gameplan until the goal we conceded was perfect
to stay in the game 0-0 and we knew we would have our chance
I think we conceded the goal too quickly to be able to make some change and make our shape stronger
"In the end we put every attacking player on the pitch
we played with only one midfielder and tried for that lucky punch
For sure we are disappointed to miss the play-offs
but we built some momentum and can keep it for next season."
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