25th September 2017
Having survived an attack from kick off, Cheltenham launched an attack of their own. From the keeper’s mistake, Holly Rodgers (pictured) side footed it against the post. She then had another chance in the 11th minute which narrowly went wide.
Despite these chances, Cheltenham struggled to settle into the game. The lack of composure and sloppy play was penalised with a goal from Frome on 35 mins. Lydia Amarquaye, who came off the bench, was able to get the team passing the ball around; creating combinations and linking up play. This led to some good build up play, with Alana Taylor shooting from outside the box.
The Frome keeper was slow to get down and Cheltenham equalised with 37mins played. They maintained this pressure and got a corner. The corner was cleared and fell to Lydia on the edge of the box, where she took a shot. Catherine Reilly was quickest to react from the rebound off the post, and she found the net after the initial save. 2-1 to Cheltenham with 39 mins gone. Cheltenham were able to maintain this lead to half time.
The start of the 2nd half was when Cheltenham began to relax and play the passing football that they were capable of. There was plenty of space for the wingers and full backs to exploit, but a combination of the posts, crossbar and the Frome keeper kept the score at 2-1. Cheltenham almost relaxed too much and allowed Frome back into the game, and Caty Stirling-Lee made some great saves to keep Cheltenham ahead.
Frome kept attacking down their right side and their active striker worked hard to get on the end of a through ball and equalise. The Cheltenham defence came under some pressure, but they did well to clear their lines and keep the score level. The attacking players were still combining and trying to get the winner, and the breakthrough came with Alana releasing Holly Rodgers into the left channel, who went past three Frome players, and slamming it into the roof of the net. Cheltenham managed to hold on to the lead for the remaining 10 mins.
Overall, it was a good start for Development with lots of chances created, with a few pointers on things to work on at training.
Squad: Caty Sterling Lee, Jenna Lepore (C), Lorraine Markovic, Tzara Marriot, Amber Coxhill, Elizabeth Dawson, Hannah Bingham, Alana Taylor, Yas Francis, Catherine Reilly, Holly Rodgers, Lydia Amarquaye, Rebecca Harris, Abbie Jones
