Bristol Rovers 1-2 Gwalia United
FAWNL Plate Round One, Oaklands Park Stadium, Sunday 1st November, 14:00 KO
Bristol Rovers Women suffered defeat in their FAWNL Plate Round One tie against Gwalia United, falling 2-1 courtesy of a pair of early goals.
Gwalia got off to a perfect start by taking the lead after just four minutes as Esme Kilburn-Thompson found space in behind to finish under George Hunt. Daisy Ackerman then doubled the advantage just a few minutes later with a brilliant lob to put her side in a dream position.
Rovers grew into the half though, and halved the deficit in the 20th minute with Ellie Preece’s superb strike from outside the box, taking the Gas into the break only one down after a fairly end-to-end period.
Chances were few and far between following the restart, however, with Gwalia standing strong and not allowing Rovers a way back into the game, as they held out for the victory to progress in the competition.
After dropping two points to a late equaliser in midweek, the visitors quickly found themselves two to the good in this one. Kilburn-Thompson made it three goals in two games against the Gas when she latched onto Elin Thomas’ through ball over the Rovers defence, finishing calmly to put her team ahead.
And it wasn’t much longer until one became two. Gwalia’s pace in behind continued to cause Rovers problems, this time with Kylie Nolan picking out Ackerman, who measured a chip from outside the box to net another goal against her former club.
That left the Gas needing a reaction to stay in contention, and they responded well by beginning to string some more moves together. In one, Lilia Dempsey pursued a ball in behind and looked to lob keeper Ameliah Yarwood, with shouts for handball on the edge of the box waved away, as Dempsey also collided with the stopper.
But Rovers got their goal moments later to bring themselves back into the game with 20 minutes gone. Preece hit a bouncing ball sweetly to beat Yarwood for pace, rifling it with power from the right to resume her impressive goalscoring streak after a period out.
Clear opportunities were much less frequent from that point, though both teams took turns to attack, making for an enjoyable watch. Seconds before the break, Preece could’ve got a second as Poppy Warren curled a wicked ball into the box, just poking wide on the stretch at the back post after the ball narrowly evaded Helena Costa.
The second half saw much fewer chances, with Gwalia resting up their two goalscorers. Jess Cockayne and Summer Evans still attempted to extend their team’s lead, but couldn’t force Hunt into any meaningful action.
Lashai Mcnama replaced Preece just after the hour mark and quickly found herself one of Rovers’ key outlets in their search for a leveller. On more than one occasion, the young attacker beat her marker for pace, though couldn’t quite get a cross in as Gwalia recovered well.
That was largely the tale of the half, with the visitors standing resolute throughout the 45 to avoid any chance of another late Rovers equaliser.
Bristol Rovers XI: Hunt ©, Tweddle, Barrett, Esmond, Warren, Clark, Preece (McNama 66), Rees (Trinci 56), Tweddle, Dempsey (Wilkinson 83), Costa (Turner 83)
Goalscorers: Preece (20)
Unused subs: Douglas, Moises
