Bristol Rovers Women manager Nathan Hallett-Young said he was “happy” with his side’s display, despite falling to a 2-1 home defeat to Gwalia United in the FA Women’s National League Plate.
After rescuing a late point on the road in midweek against the same opposition, the Gas were undone by two early goals from Esme Kilburn-Thompson and Daisy Ackerman in the cup.
Rovers grew into it from there and got one back through Ellie Preece’s strike with 20 minutes on the clock, however Gwalia defended valiantly throughout the second half to prevent the rotated hosts from getting back into the tie.
“We’re on the wrong side of the result, but ultimately I’m happy with the fact that our performance was good,” Hallett-Young said post-match. “I think naturally when you make 10 changes from Thursday night, it’s going to be a different kind of affair.
“We went down by two early and I think from there we kind of switched on. It seemed as if what we saw at the start of the season, the 25-minute syndrome that we spoke about previously. We just haven’t really started quickly, we were still kind of half asleep.”
One of the key positives from the afternoon was the return of forward Preece following a period on the sidelines. The 24-year-old was in scintillating goalscoring form before her injury with four goals in three games, and picked up where she left off with a powerful strike into the top of the goal, as Hallett-Young praised her performance and the ones of those who stepped into the side.
“I mean it’s great the fact that she’s back into the mix. It was an injury keeping her out for two weeks,” he told club media, “and I’m glad that she was able to get on and get the best part of 75 minutes. You know, it’s ideal to get her back into the squad.
“Equally across the board, Grace stepped in again today and played as a solo holder, so it’s not as natural for her and she’s another one that’s had a great performance. We’re seeing really big, consistent pushes and performances from everyone in the squad, whether they’re regular starters or more rotational players.”
He added: “I think that’s what we really want at the start of the season. We wanted to make sure that our group was a really close-knit, tight group, and it took its time to really get there. The main thing is we’re all enjoying it and I can’t stress how good that is.
“We all spend too much money, too much time on this where we’re volunteers, whether we’re paid, whatever, to not enjoy it. And I think the fact that we are enjoying it, we’re having fun with it. It might not be the perfect season, it might not be the perfect scenarios, but week in week out we’re having fun.”
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