26th February 2018
Match report by Liv Galpin.
Cheltenham.Town U16 girls travelled to Chipping Sodbury for the Semi Final in the County Cup against St Nicholas.
Before kick off both teams shook hands and wished each other good luck.
Cheltenham Town kicked off taking control.
8 minutes into the game and Chelt Town have two consecutive corners, Hannah G takes both which are whipped across the face of goal, a bit more of a gamble to try and get a touch and they would have been in.
15th min a free kick on the left about 25 yards out level with the corner of the 18 yard box. Hannah Galpin steps up with a cracking shot which loops over everyone and crashes of the bottom right hand corner and out. Millimetres to the left and it would have been in.
25 mins in and the ball is passed out from defence by Hannah D to Anna S who passes to Hannah G who flicks it into the box where Beth battles against the many St Nicks defence the ball falls to Courtney L who gains control and drives the ball into the bottom left corner. 1-0 to Cheltenham Town.
Cheltenham Town continued to display some great passing and reading of the game for the rest of the first half , defence holding well with support from midfield.
Second half St Nicks put lots of pressure on from the start and at 50mins St Nicks have a corner, a great ball played in, lots of defending and battling to gain control of the ball but St Nicks find the back of the net 1-1.
St Nicks show lots of determination and press hard with play seemingly going there way.
Opportunities arise for both sides and seems to be going towards penalties as full time approaches with only a few mins to go. A throw in to Chelt Town level with the St Nicks penalty box the ball is partly cleared but falls to Hannah G for Cheltenham Town who passes the ball into the box to Courtney L who chips the ball over the St Nicks keeper who is rushing out the ball falls into the goal 2-1 to Cheltenham Town.
St Nicks kick off from the centre spot, with the clock ticking St Nicks put the pressure on but with great defending the game finishes with a 2-1 win for Cheltenham Town who are now through to the final next month in at GFA headquarters in Almondsbury to face Bristol Ladies Union on 18th March.
The game was played fairly and with respect by both teams. Referee Jonathan Cordy was described by Chelt Town coach Simon Galpin as giving a very fair and professional performance.
Team: Hannah G, Courtney, Amie, Beth, Anna S, Emma, Libby, Hannah D, Grace, Erin, Eloise, Lily, Olivia, Anna B.
