From the Bridgwater Mercury:
Manchester United defeat Bridgwater United in Women's FA Cup
ACTION: Bridgwater United vs Manchester United in Women's FA Cup (pics: Steve Richardson)
BRIDGWATER United Women can hold their heads up high after a spirited performance in the Fourth Round of the Women's FA Cup against Manchester United.
Despite losing 0-2, the home side showed they are formidable and also highlighted perhaps the gap in quality between the two sides was not as what many would have thought.
2,500 fans packed in to Fairfax Park for the match and Manchester United took no chances when they named a full strength side.
After the match, Manchester United manager Marc Skinner said he was very impressed with Bridgwater but is happy with his sides performance.
"We came here today and did a very professional job, but we respected our opposition because they deserved to be.
"I think I was surprised with how tactically in-tune they were, they made sure to not make it easy for us.
"At the end of the day I just hope this helps Bridgwater as a club to progress, the whole day today was very professional and I have enjoyed my time here."
Manchester United went on the attack right from the off and in the third minute Ivana Fuso found space in the box but her shot went narrowly wide.
An early wake up call for Bridgwater, but the home side fought back; Bethany-May Howard in goal for Bridgwater deserves a special mention, she made countless important saves.
Bridgwater got forward on occasion in the early stages, at one point Bow Jackson made a break down the line only to be firmly tackled by Katie Zelem.
Then in the 18th minute the first goal came for Manchester, the ball was crossed in by Fuso, it bounced around the box to Hayley Ladd, she shot and Charlotte Buxton deflected it into her own net.
For the rest of the half Bridgwater held their own and again made some attacking plays; one in particular from Laura Holden, who to deserves a shout out for her performance.
At the break it was just the one goal separating the two sides, giving the underdogs some hope.
The second half was more end-to-end than the first and Bridgwater were in fact on top for short spells.
Leah Burridge and Jenna Markham both managed efforts on target and the crowd sensed a change in momentum.
However somewhat against the run of play in the second period, Manchester doubled the lead.
This time through an exceptional solo goal from Ella Toone, she cut inside and curled the ball in off the far post.
The goal came late in the game and did see Manchester home clear, Bridgwater kept fighting right to the end and on the whole they did themselves proud.
The whole team of players, staff and club volunteers did a great job to make sure the event ran smoothly and of course was entertaining.
It truly was a great advert for women's football in the South West and for the Bridgwater United Women players, well done.
The FA Cup run this side has been on this year has been great, and shows how far the group of players have come in a short space of time. Credit to them.
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