Bristol Rovers Women’s defeat to Fulham in the Adone Women’s FA Cup was difficult to take for manager Nathan Hallett-Young.
The Gas Girls were looking to progress to the fourth round of the competition for the second successive season, beating Oxford United 3-2 to earn a tie against Women’s Super League team Aston Villa.
Rovers beat Marine Plymouth Academy, and Haringey Borough to earn a home tie against the Cottagers, but conceded three times in the first half to give themselves a mountain to climb after the break. Meg Jarvis netted four minutes after the restart to give the Pirates hope, but Fulham held onto their two-goal advantage to secure their passage to the next round.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Hallet-Young reflected on the defeat and the moments that proved costly before highlighting the positives.
Nathan, an unfortunate loss in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup. How do you feel about that one?
“It’s another one that’s hard to take. I think after the last couple of games, I have probably said the same thing. Realistically, it’s the same circumstances that have let us down again.
“I said at half-time to the guys that it’s a situation where it’s us versus us. In the last three games in the first half, we’ve let ourselves down. We’ve either had a couple of silly mistakes or we’ve gifted stuff, and we’re always trying to claw the game back.
“We came out in the second half, and we’re killing teams, and I definitely think we had more control, and the momentum was with us. I think the football that we played was brilliant, but we’re sat here when we’re against the result, and that’s an issue, and it’s something that’s not quite good enough at the moment.
It’s frustrating because we’re so good, we’ve been so good, and we’ve had opportunities to continue to find ways of winning games, but we’re always in that situation where we’re having to chase stuff. So, if we can turn that corner and cut those little things out, then I think we’ll be in a really good place.”
Moving on from the FA Cup, there is a bit more space now with the league. What can we do now, pushing on?
“It’s the same thing. It’s the same message as I put in at half-time. If we make sure that we run that extra little bit, make sure we move into the right areas. If we have just that little bit better timing, you find ways out, and you find ways of playing football the way we want to play, and they want to play as a group of players.
“But if we can continue to find ways of dominating games like we are, without giving away mistakes and without letting a side have a headstart, then we’re in a really good place. It happened with the Swindon game, it happened in the Moneyfields game, and it’s happened today.
“Going in at 3-0 down at half-time is not an ideal circumstance, and yes, we bagged one early and we have momentum all the way through, but we have to find a way to get ourselves back into it.
“It's just those small margins that we’re currently chasing and small errors that we’re needing to consistently fix. As a group, if we can tighten that screw, then we’ll be in a really good place, but it’s just frustrating to take.”
