Cullompton Rangers LFC
Cully beat Swindon in Pat Sowden Trophy
With an important 4-5 weeks ahead for Cully the girls travelled away to Swindon in the 2nd round of the Pat Sowden Trophy. On a heavy and uneven pitch both teams found it hard to play free flowing football early on. Cully had the majority of possession in the first 45 minutes, with Maxine Coupe in the Cully goal having little to do. The half was a story of missed opportunities which saw Kim Betlam hit the bar and Titch (Laura Carpenter) shooting just over. The forwards, Angie Pope and Emma Redwood fought hard but saw the Swindon keeper in good form to thwart their efforts. Josie Copp was unlucky not to get her first goal of the season when her header from a Curly (Catherine Wright) corner was cleared off the line.
Cully were rewarded as the first half concluded, taking the lead when Swindon failed to clear from a corner. As the ball was lofted back in Redwood won the header and knocked it to her fellow striker. As Pope challenged for the ball she appeared to be dragged to the floor by a defender, but managed to get a touch and scramble it over the line.
The second half saw a switch of strikers with Rachel Javan and Laura Gough now leading the line. Cully again failed to convert their chances early on with Jess Hooper hitting the post with a right foot shot and Rach having a close range effort saved by the Swindon keeper. Cully were then made to pay for a spell of complacency when Swindon scored a surprise equaliser. A free kick from distance was neatly flicked on to the Swindon captain near to the penalty spot, she slid in between Coupe and Copp and poked the ball home.
This was the wake-up call that the players needed and Cully attacked straight from the kick-off. Goughy and Rachel went close before Jess cooly converted to restore the lead for Cully. A perfect through ball from Titch gave Jess a run on goal, she made no mistake and drilled a left-footed shot past the keeper. With confidence restored Cully added a third just moments later. Swindon were punished for losing the ball from the kick-off with Curly challenging and winning the ball in midfield. Gabby Trays then picked up the ball on the edge of the box, she turned one defender, wrong footed another and slotted the ball in with her left foot.
A fourth goal soon followed when Rachel was rewarded for her hard work since coming on at half time. Goughy, who had a point to prove against Swindon, ran tirelessly picking up loose balls and hassling defenders, she stole the ball from a Swindon player and found the ever present Curly behind her. Curlys accurate through ball to Rachel saw another one-on-one which Rachel made no mistake with. Swindon were understandable dejected but continued to play with their heads held high and attacked whenever possible. The back three of Josie, Kerry Powell-Tuckett and Karen Buck defended well on a heavy pitch and were supported well by a confident Max when called upon. Chrissy Daniels made an immediate impact when coming on to replace Betlam, tackling well in midfield and crossing the ball from the right wing. Goughy was pleased to get on the score sheet with her goal, to make it 5-1. Jess crossed the ball from the left, Goughy turned her defender and drilled home from close range. The biggest shock of the day came in injury time when Bucky scored her first, and possibly only, goal of the season. A rare attacking run from left full-back Bucky gave Cully their sixth and final goal. Curly played the ball to Bucky on the half way line, who in turn found Jess on the left wing. Bucky continued her run forward and received a neat return ball. From just inside the area Bucky hit a strong left footed shot into the bottom corner of the net. It was hard to decide who was more surprised, Bucky, her team-mates or the Cully bench.
A good win for the girls ahead of next weeks crucial league game at home to Yeovil.