Bristol Rovers 3-1 Marine Academy Plymouth
FA Women’s National League, Ivybridge Town FC, Sunday 23rd August
Bristol Rovers Women claimed their first points of the season with a hard-fought 3-1 win against Marine Academy Plymouth, thanks to goals from Helena Costa, Gipsy Viveash, and Ruby Scahill.
Nathan Hallett-Young named an unchanged eleven from last week’s 3-0 defeat to Bridgwater United, but his side fell behind in the 16th minute as Samantha Drewery rolled it into an empty net after George Hunt was caught in possession.
The Gas Girls rallied in response, and Costa levelled the score 20 minutes later from close range, before Viveash and Scahill added to the scoreline with superb lobs either side of the break to give Rovers all three points.
Chances weren't free-flowing in the opening exchanges as both teams battled hard for possession. Eventually, MAP went ahead when Hunt was pressed effectively, giving Drewery an easy job to finish as the ball fell to her in front of the goal.
Rovers didn’t let that knock them out of their stride, and started making more of their possession. Lilia Dempsey was a livewire on the left wing, consistently beating her marker but not able to find the decisive pass.
After getting a good hold on the encounter, Rovers got themselves level through Costa. MAP struggled to clear Anais Trinci’s corner, and Rovers’ 28 forced the home keeper into fumbling the ball before poking home from a few yards out.
No sooner had the ball been placed back in the centre circle, the Gas doubled their tally. Viveash perfectly measured a lob from outside the box after instinctively latching onto Costa’s flick, finishing quickly under pressure.
That gave Rovers the platform to control the second half, and the travelling Gas Girls indeed dominated the chances after the break, extending their lead promptly following the resumption. This time it was Scahill who led the press and created herself an opening, finding the back of the net with a brilliantly judged chip from distance.
From there, most of the chances went to a player in blue and white. With confidence flowing, Scahill tried to slip in Costa for her second of the day, but the keeper just got to the ball first to deny the shooting opportunity.
Dempsey then again found her way into the box and looked to cap off the afternoon. However, the chance came to nothing as she just misjudged her shot, after doing the hard work of skipping into the promising position.
Rovers limited MAP to very little in the closing moments, with Hunt only having to collect a couple of tame shots to keep the scoreline at 3-1 and conclude a successful away outing for the Gas.
HALLETT-YOUNG: IF WE CAN KEEP BUILDING, WE'LL BE IN A GREAT PLACE
Nathan, a brilliant away win today - a really high‑tempo performance. What are your thoughts on that one?
"I’m just glad we’re on the board. That was the important thing after last week. There was a bit too much noise around what that game looked like, and for us it was about putting that to bed. We felt we actually played well last week, and we’ve matched that with another good performance today.
"The big difference was in the forward areas. Our chances were much more clear‑cut, and we’d worked a lot this week on being more decisive higher up the pitch. I’m really pleased we put those chances away.
"Costa came in and finished off what was basically a half‑chance, exactly what we’ve asked of her - being alive around the goalkeeper and ready to tap things in. Gypsy’s finish was excellent, and Ruby did what Ruby always does: scoring from long range. We worked on a lot of things during the week, and I’m glad they came off today."
And it’s straight back into action on Wednesday against Keynsham. How do you keep these performances going?
"The best thing is we’ve got a really good group. They’re building a close connection, and you can see they’re starting to fight for each other. Today was a big physical affair, and they were right in the battle together - that’s the important bit. I’d take that fight, grit and determination every time. It reminded me of our first season in the National League, where we were really hard to beat physically.
"If we can keep building that, we’ll be in a great place. We’ve also got a big squad, so we can rotate and look after players properly. That’ll be important going into the week. Hopefully the players who haven’t had as many minutes in the last two games can get good game time, prove a point, and push themselves into the starting picture."
LAYAH DOUGLAS: IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED
Layah, just how good was that away performance?
Honestly, it was exactly what we needed to bounce back from last week. We had the physicality, we grew into the game, and today we started on the front foot. We really showed the quality we have.
Three great goals and a solid defensive display in the second half.
Definitely, we limited them well after the break and managed the game properly.
Reflecting on the first goal conceded - frustrating, but you didn’t let your heads drop?
Yeah, we couldn’t let our heads drop. It was just a mistake, and those happen in football. What matters is how you react, and our reaction was perfect. Going 1-0 down and then turning it around with two goals before half-time was excellent. I’m really proud of all the girls.
Looking ahead to Keynsham in midweek - how much confidence does this give the squad?
It’s massive for us. We’ve got momentum now, and hopefully we can carry that into the midweek fixture and then again on Sunday.
