12th February 2018
Cheltenham Town Ladies were hit for six at a windy Milbourne St Andrew ground as their young guns struggled against Poole Town Ladies.
New manager Alex Cheal had to ring the changes with 10 regulars out through injury, work commitments and other absences. As a result his first ever FA WPL side included six under 18s and three new signings – Abby Dance, Ellie Carter and Charlie Rowlands.
After a bright start, in which Lydia Amarquaye gave the Robins an early lead, the Ladies failed to build on their excellent counterattacking play and went in at half time 3-1 down, after conceding three soft goals. The first came from a corner, the second when the Poole no 7 was allowed to run from midfield before firing in a strong shot and the third when the Ladies failed to clear their lines and a Poole midfielder struck a volley into the roof of the net.
In the second half the Ladies had the wind behind them and a downhill slope and they dominated possession in the early stages. However they did so without posing any real threat with the Poole defence sitting deep. On the hour Holly Kay put Charlie Rowlands through for a superb opportunity but a Poole defender managed to snuff out the danger.
That was perhaps the moment when the Ladies realised it wasn’t going to be their day and Poole added three more to their tally in the final 20 minutes.
Manager Alex Cheal felt the scoreline was harsh and took several positives from the game praising his young charges in such trying circumstances. “I have nothing but plaudits for them. This was always going to be a tough fixture and conditions were cold and blustery but they stepped up superbly.”
The Ladies are away next week to Downend Flyers in the GFA County Cup.
Team: Stirling-Lee, Dance, Brown-Wealls, Davies, Carter, Hateley, Amarquaye, Berry, Butterfield, Kay, Rowlands (Jamieson).
