Nathan Hallett-Young was delighted with Bristol Rovers Women's team performance in their 3-1 victory over Cheltenham Town in the GFA Cup.
The Pirates had won their first three fixtures in 2026 and claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory over Bristol City PGA in their opening group stage fixture.
The Gas knew a victory would be enough to see them finish at the top of the group and progress into the next round, with one game left to play and gained a two-goal lead against the Robins thanks to efforts from Ella Hilliard and Chloe Snook. Cheltenham got one back with a few minutes left to play, but Snook got her second in stoppage time to confirm all three points for the Gas Girls.
Speaking after the fixture, Hallett-Young was pleased with the victory and believes it puts them in a good position for the midweek fixture against Swindon Town.
So, Nathan, a win against Cheltenham today. How do you feel about that one?
“I’m happy. First and foremost, it’s getting us through to the next round of the cup, making it easier on the calendar, so to speak, and we can move things around. It was a really big team performance. We talked about the importance of not just having individual performances, but team performances, and I’m really glad that everyone made sure that they stepped up and put in a shift.
“I think we were able to rotate a few things and really give the squad some minutes across the board. It really sets us up for the midweek game.”
You were very strong defensively with one slip late in the second half. How do you reflect on that?
“In the first half, we were brilliant on both sides of the ball and in the second half, I thought we were brilliant defensively. I know it’s one of our key strengths and one of our best attributes is how strong we are defensively.
“I’m gutted to lose the clean sheet. They threw everything at us, especially straight at the start of the second half, but we rode the storm really, really well. It’s gutting to lose out on the clean sheet, but ultimately, for us, three points are the most important thing going into this. It’s a group stage game that we can hopefully come out on top in, and it sets us up for the Gloucester City game and hopefully sets us up for a semi-final in the next round."
Looking ahead to Swindon Town in midweek, how does this result set us up for the rest of the week?
“I think it gives us momentum. The group are really together and I think it’s showing. We’re really starting to grow and that is a really good observation here, in terms of what we have done and what we have achieved, but also it’s something that we can really continue to carry.
“I think we’ve still got more growth to continue and I think if we’re in the position where we are from here on out until the end of the season, we know our task, we know we are chasing, so we want to be on the right side of the result going into the Wednesday game. If we get the right result, we’ll be in a really good place to set us up for the last leg of the season.”
