Forest Green Rovers Women moved to the top of the Regen Arable South West Regional Women’s Football League Premier Division table after a 5-1 win over Bishops Lydeard Ladies at Hartpury College on Sunday.
Rovers went behind after 19 minutes after Holly Meakins lobbed goalkeeper Flo Stiddard, but battled back to score three goals in eight minutes before half-time on their way to victory.
Rhian Robbins pulled them level after 30 minutes, before a spectacular Elle Scott put Forest Green in front on the 36-minute mark. Scott soon had a second, doubling her tally with a spectacular strike two minutes later.
WHAT A GOAL!!!!!
— Forest Green Rovers Women (@FGRFC_Women) November 3, 2024
Blink and you'll miss it, stunning goal
38’| 🟢 3-1 🔴 #WeAreFGR💚 pic.twitter.com/AC28eKitox
New signing Irene Aguado and substitute Leilani Ryder added second-half goals to reclaim their spot at the top of the table, after falling to second with a defeat to Torquay United last time out.
“We executed our game really well today, and it’s a great reward that we’re top of the league, but we know we’ve got a lot more to do for the rest of the season,” said Rovers assistant coach Louise Fensome.
“We showed resilience to come back after going behind, we were confident in our game plan as we’ve worked on it all week, and you could see that once they were able to settle down. I’m really proud of them, scoring five goals is brilliant.”
⭐️WATCH all FIVE @FGRFC_Women's goals against Bishops Lydeard Ladies from this weekend!🖐️#WeAreFGR #FGR pic.twitter.com/LEIu5Ahpcl
— Park Life Sport (@ParkLife_Sport) November 4, 2024
Fensome believes this could be a statement victory for the Hartpury College-based side, who struggled against their opponents last season, picking up just a point across the two ties despite finishing 18 points apart.
Progress has been made both off and on the pitch in the past 12 months, with Rovers sitting in 5th with three wins and four losses this time last season on their way to a fourth-placed finish.
This season they have won five of their opening six and sit two points ahead of Torquay, who have a game in hand.
“We might not have won this game last year, but we can use our strengths better this season and our game plans have been executed really well, week on week.
🗣️ Hear from @FGRFC_Women's assistant coach. Louise Fensome on how her side have improved on last seasons start to the campaign.@TheSJMoores pic.twitter.com/WLJcoDTEid
— Park Life Sport (@ParkLife_Sport) November 4, 2024
“We’ve also strengthened areas that we saw with weaknesses last season, so I’m really happy to see that today with the performance, and hats off to the players,” she said.
Attention now turns to their next fixture, with a trip down to Somerset on the agenda to face the very same opponent in the reverse fixture.
Bishops Lydeard upset Forest Green on their steep pitch at Darby Way last season, with the opening day 1-0 win being one of just two victories all season.
Just about ready to go at Darby Way with Lydeard kicking off down the slope . pic.twitter.com/9m4coYrDsq
— Bishops Lydeard AFC (@_BLAFC_) October 14, 2024
“Their slope is unique challenge, so we’ll have to go away and think about how we approach that,” Fensome said.
“We go into every game with confidence. Their ground is a very difficult one to go to, but we’ll be as prepared as we can and hopefully get the win.”
Should that happen, it would extend their 100% record on the road to 4 wins, after winning the same amount throughout their entire last campaign.
