From the Bridgwater women website:
Bridgwater United 1 - 0 Crystal Palace
Bridgwater United Women pulled off a remarkable 1-0 home win over Championship side Crystal Palace on Sunday.
A first half goal from midfielder Laura Holden sent United ahead and an incredible performance from all the players kept Palace out in the second half.
As all the supporters would agree, the match was the best performance of the year from this Bridgwater side and Laura Holden’s goal has to be the moment of the season so far.
Bridgwater United CEO Adam Murry said it is an amazing result for the team and for the Club.
“It was a great performance from every one of those women today, they played well and for each other to earn that win, I’m extremely proud of the team, fully believing in each and every one of the players that they all have the talent and desire to compete at the top levels.
“In the last few weeks, we set out to introduce a new coaching strategy and brought in Kevin Braybrook, a personal friend and an experienced coach who has worked at the elite level, to work with the management to help implement this.
“The focus is now driven by improving the girls and establishing a culture that develops as well as gets results, the new sessions have added detail and elite thinking, which is benefitting the group.
“This has also been shown by supporting U21 players gaining playing opportunities which included Emily Wilson-White, Maya Kendell and Laura Holden, all who were instrumental in the outcome of the game.
“As a coaching team, which included the men’s 1st team management, we completely revamped the tactics, shape and play style and enforced further levels of self-belief in the women in their ability, and from this result it would be safe to say it worked,” Murry said.
From the off Bridgwater were on top and took the game to Palace, both Chloe Gilroy and Meesha Dudley-Jones carved out chances for themselves early.
The visitors did not look like a team at the top end of the Championship as they struggled to break through a resolute home defence; it has to be said that Ffion Lewellyn and Amy Goddard both played very well at centre back.
The crowd truly went wild and that moment will surely be on that lives in the memory of the fans for quite some time.
In the second half, it was clear Crystal Palace would push on for an equaliser, and a number of attacking substitutions gave them more flair going forward.
They did force a super save from Beth Howard in the 57th minute and a few more saves later on but again the Bridgwater defence played incredibly well to keep them out.
Academy graduate Maya Kendall was brought on for Bridgwater for her first team debut late in the match and added to the Bridgwater attack with her pace, highlighting how far the academy has grown in short space of time.
After fending off a number of Crystal Palace attacks, the final whistle blew and the Bridgwater side had pulled off an amazing upset and advanced through to the Fourth Round of the Women’s FA Cup.
Emotions were high from the players, staff and fans alike as this Bridgwater side proved how good they are and that they can compete with top teams.
Match Details
Match: Bridgwater United v Crystal Palace
Competition: Vitality Women’s FA Cup | Third Round
Date: Sunday 12 December
Venue: Fairfax Park
Attendance: 284
Teams
United: Beth Howard, Leah Burridge, Amy Goddard, Ffion Llewellyn, Emily Wilson-White, Laura Holden, Ellie Strippel, Charlotte Buxton, Jasmine Turner, Chloe Gilroy, Meesha Dudley-Jones.
Subs: Maya Kendell, Jasmine Read, Keeley Banfield, Ellie Bell, Jenna Markham, Sydney Hinchcliffe, Lydia Huntley, Bow Jackson.
Palace: Chloe Morgan, Annabel Johnson, Grace Pearse, Lizzie Waldie, Aimee Everett, Kirsty Barton, Sophie McLean, Coral-Jade Haines, Bianca Baptiste, Millie Farrow, Molly Sharpe.
Subs: Emily Orman, Leanne Cowan, Leigh Nicol, Siobhan Wilson, Grace Coombs, Charley Clifford, Hannah Churchill.
Referee: Billy Wilde
Assistant Referee: Rob McDonald
Assistant Referee: Roger Smith
- By Lewis Wiseman
- By Debbie Gould
No comments:
Post a Comment