Football / Bristol Rovers Women
Rovers well-beaten by Villa in FA Cup fourth round
It was perhaps just too generous of Bristol Rovers Women to give Aston Villa a 3-0 start after only seven and a half minutes of this FA Cup fourth round tie.
Especially given the fact that their opponents were captained by Rachel Daly, one of the famous Lionesses from England’s Euro 2022 victory, among a number of other internationals.
Daly, who only played the first 45 minutes on a very cold Sunday night, was furious with the referee after she thought she had scored late in the opening half.
She and her fully professional Villa team – with former Arsenal and England player Jordan Nobbs conducting the midfield all night – were taking this game seriously to the great credit of a Rovers side made up of teachers, fitness coaches and physios.
Rovers were well beaten 9-0 in a very one-sided encounter. But despite the result, it needs to be remembered that the Gas Girls are one of Bristol’s sporting success stories of recent years.
This being a cup tie, Villa were not playing at Villa Park but at the Bescot Stadium in Walsall, still a world away from a molehill-pocked pitch on a park in Gloucester where the reformed Rovers played their first match in 2019.
Villa went into the break 5-0 up thanks to two goals from Brazilian Gabi Nunes and one each from Adriana Leon, Daly and Paula Tomas.
Rovers keeper George Hunt made a string of fine saves and with Villa completely dominating possession, almost every touch of the ball by a player in blue and white quarters was cheered by the traveling Gas faithful among a crowd of 972.
Sophia Poor replaced Sabrina D’Angelo in goal for Villa at the start of the second half and made a fingertip save to deny Meg Jarvis in what was Rovers’ best chance of the match.
Just 19 seconds after she had also come on at the start of the second half, Chastity Grant scored Villa’s sixth, with Kirsty Hanson making it seven, Nunes heading in the eighth, and Jill Baijings’ turn and shot for nine.
Between the goals conceded, there were some memorable moments for Nathan Hallett-Young’s team: Hunt’s saves, a strong challenge from Jodie Exley on Leon, Daisy Ackerman with a Cruyff turn, a glorious run through the middle from Chloe Bassett and a well-struck shot by Emison Evans that was also well-saved by Poor.
In the biggest match of the club’s history, fourth tier Rovers may have started off too generously and never managed to recover against their WSL opponents, but their remarkable story as a club continues.
Main photo: Aston Villa / X
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