Bristol Rovers 4-2 Keynsham Town
FA Women’s National League Cup, Oaklands Park Stadium, Wednesday 26th August
The Gas got off to a storming start with plenty of attacking joy, and in the 14th minute made their effort pay off as they took the lead when Bella Tweddle perfectly nodded in Freya Gordon’s measured cross.
Keynsham didn’t sit back though, and found an equaliser just five minutes later, with Keynsham Captain Mia Mugford slotting past Imogen Davies. But Rovers didn’t sit back and were two up at the break, as Tweddle struck her second and Gipsy Viveash coolly converted the spot kick she won herself.
Having set up the second of the day, Lashai Mcnama grabbed a goal of her own by bundling in from close range, before substitute Alaiya Beale scored a late consolation for Keynsham.
Manager Nathan Hallett-Young made eight changes from the 3-1 win over Marine Academy Plymouth, but that didn’t prevent the Gas from starting strongly. Freya Gordon was well involved from the off, regularly finding time and space on the right to pick her head up and deliver into the box.
After a couple of attempts were well cut out by the Keynsham defence, it was that avenue that yielded the opener for Rovers. Gordon again had ample breathing room to cross with precision for Tweddle, whose header found the corner at the back post.
Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last long as Mugford finished neatly past Davies. That leveller began a period of dominance from Keynsham, but the Gas Girls stood up to the task and even sprung a couple of good counter-attacks through Ellie Preece and Viveash.
As Rovers regained their control, they made their probing count. This time Grace Clark played a sublime through ball down the line to find Lashai Mcnama, who drove into the box and found Tweddle to finish with power first time for her second of the night.
Clark’s influence on the game grew from there, and just before the break she rattled the crossbar from outside the box following a short corner. Wanting a piece of the action, Annys Turner attempted a similar feat moments later, brilliantly intercepting a potential counter from a home corner and again testing the bar from 35 yards out.
Just before the break, Rovers doubled their advantage. Viveash latched onto a through ball in behind and cleverly touched the ball away from the onrushing keeper to draw the foul in the box. Stepping up herself, the forward fired into the top left corner from 12 yards.
The Gas had to share the ball in the second half, with the visitors having a few tidy spells going forwards, though Davies was left largely untested. In the first big chance of the half, Mcnama was on hand to finish the job after Poppy Warren’s driven cross caused problems in the goalmouth.
That goal extended Rovers’ advantage to three and allowed the hosts some breathing space in the tie. Tweddle came close to rounding off her hat-trick but was denied the chance by the offside flag, before Annys Turner tried her luck after a lung-busting run into the box.
With just five minutes left of the encounter, Keynsham had another. Alaiya Beale beat her marker on the right and struck with power to beat Davies and give her side a glimmer of hope in the closing moments.
HALLETT-YOUNG: I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH THE WAY WE'RE STARTING TO BUILD
Nathan, six goals and through in the cup. How do you look back on that?
Yes, so far so good going forward this week. I’m really happy with the way we’re starting to build. I think the fact we can make eight changes to our starting XI from the weekend and still look just as good going forward is a real testament to how the girls are building and growing as a group.
But also to what the staff are doing behind the scenes. Kelly’s been a breath of fresh air since she’s come in - what she’s doing with the girls to help them progress is brilliant. And the same goes for the rest of the staff: Pauly, Saz, all doing some really good work.
So I’m really happy with what we’re doing so far. In terms of this evening, we’ll take the four goals. There was some really good stuff in there, some really good attacking play. It’s nice that we’re starting to attack the box with real numbers and real energy going forward.
Two goals conceded that are frustrating, but when you’re trying to play good possession football and move the ball well, it’s going to happen. It’s a young side, so we’re going to make mistakes - but the best thing about this group is that they’re learning from them.
Two goals for Bella to kick things off tonight - that’ll do her confidence a lot of good.
100%. She had a great pre‑season, and like a lot of our youngsters, she’s had some really strong performances. For me, giving these players opportunities is really important.
They’re proving how good they are and how much they can step up to this level. They dealt with the physicality really well this evening, and again, you can’t fault the performances. They’re going to keep raising the bar.
If they can push the rest of the squad, and the older heads can keep pushing the standards too, we’ll be in a really good position.
Plenty of changes tonight and some key faces rested - does that give you a bit of a headache with selection for the weekend?
Yes, that’s exactly what we asked for. We wanted those who got an opportunity tonight to make selection a problem for the weekend. A few of them have definitely done that and given us a real question mark over what we’re looking at.
But the best thing is we’ve rested some key figures. Ruby hasn’t had a minute this evening, so she’s rested and should be fresh for the weekend. Same for a few others who only played a maximum of 45. For us, that’s ideal and puts us in the best position going into Maidenhead.
Win away last Sunday, win here tonight - looking forward to getting to the Mem on Sunday for three in eight?
Yes, we’re back here Sunday. If we can get ourselves another result, that would be brilliant. We just want to keep moving forward, keep the momentum going, and keep performances as high as we can. This group is one that’s going to keep developing and learning as we go.
We’ve dramatically dropped our average age, so the youngsters are really going to push and grow. It’s exciting for us because we can see the development and the growth we can make. I’m excited to see where we land by Christmas, and then further beyond that.
