by Elliot Yates
Gloucester City made it two wins out of two with a dominant 4-1 win against Bristol & West in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League.
A brace from Kate Ambrey with goals from Bethany Smith and Rakiya Morgan-King were enough to seal an emphatic win for Gloucester City moving them up the league table after discovering newfound form.
Gloucester City were on top from the first whistle. Seven minutes into the game Hannah Clarke found space on the left-hand side to cut inside on her left foot and narrowly missed the far-right hand corner.
Chloe Jarvis had another effort from 25 yards out four minutes later with a left footed shot trying to find the top corner. City kept peppering the Bristol & West defence when Chloe Golding charged forward down the right flank and played a precise through ball to Kate Ambrey who put the ball onto her right foot, but it was caught by Sarah Rose in the Bristol & West goal.
The Tigers’ dominance finally payed off as City opened the scoring on 30 minutes. Clarke burst down the left-hand side and did excellently to keep the ball in play gliding past two defenders approaching the six-yard box. She then played a pass to Ambrey who had an open goal and tapped the ball in from two yards out.
This lead was short lived as Bristol & West scored five minutes later. An in-swinging corner was met by Robyn Pecler at the near post and her header found the bottom right corner to put Bristol & West level.
Right before half time Gloucester were back in the lead after a through ball found Ambrey 20 yards out, she saw the goalkeeper off her line and chipped the ball over her scoring her second to put Gloucester City in front at half time after a stunning goal.
In the second half Gloucester extended their lead thanks to Bethany Smith who let rip and volleyed the ball from around 25 yards into the top corner to put Gloucester City into a 3-1 lead after ten minutes played in the second 45 minutes.
In the 62nd minute Kate Ambrey shrugged off her opponent with her back to goal shooting from just inside the penalty area. A left footed effort was caught by Rose after great possession play from City leading up to the chance.
Five minutes later, substitute Rakiya Morgan-King scored City’s fourth of the day, a solo effort from the right-hand side saw her take on her marker, nutmegging her to get past, and shooting from just inside the box and beyond the goalkeeper at her near post.
Gloucester City continued to be the dominant team throughout the remainder of the half. In the 80th minute Ambrey was hunting for a hat trick. She controlled the ball well on her chest before setting herself up for a left foot shot which went just past the face of goal.
In the 84th minute Megan Prout had her first chance of the game since her introduction, with time and space to move forward she found herself on the edge of the box and had an effort go just wide of the goalkeeper’s bottom right corner and City were able to see out the rest of the match.
Gloucester City face Bishops Cleeve Reserves in the cup at New Meadow Park on Sunday and their next league fixture is away at Longwell Green Ladies.