Gloucester City Women 3-2 Weston Super-Mare Ladies
Gloucester City Women recorded their first ever competitive win and secured a passage through to the second qualifying round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup by beating Weston Super-Mare with a late winner.
Chris Hill’s team had to come from behind in a superbly entertaining encounter which City should have probably had wrapped up well before the final whistle. As it was, Kate Ambrey’s 87th minute goal was enough to secure a deserved victory.
City started brightly and applied early pressure on Weston’s defence, with Meg Long breaking clear several times down the left flank before having to withdraw with an injury. The Seagulls took the lead just before the 15 minute mark when Phoebe Payton’s 25 yard lob beat Cat Harding in the City goal.
It didn’t take long for City to get level though, as four minutes later Kelsey Harris latched on to Zoe Gabb’s through ball after a well timed run to curl past the Weston keeper.
Things got even better just seconds before the break, this time captain Jade Powell was the provider, splitting the defence and setting up Kate Ambrey to put the Tigers ahead.
City started the second half well and nearly put the game to bed when Powell again sent through Ambrey, only to be denied by the woodwork.
Weston levelled the game on 55 minutes when some good work down the left wing found their player unmarked in the box to calmly slot the ball into the corner.
From then on City were in control and could have had several more goals were it not for some assured goalkeeping by Weston. City came close when Nicole Lewis’ header was cleared off the line from a corner. As the clock ticked away they looked to be running out of time, but their persistence paid off when Weston lost possession on the edge of their own box and Lucie Cummings played in Ambrey to score an emphatic winner.
City will now face Ilminster Town at home on 3rd October in the Second Qualifying Round.
Star player: Kay Day
Gloucester City: C Harding, Golding, Lewis, Day, Long (Spiller sub Reynolds), Smith, Davies, Powell, Ambrey, Gabb, Harris (Cummings)
Subs not used: Sterry, Irvine, Draper, T Harding