A record attendance saw Mike Hill’s Gloucester City Women’s side defeat Bath City Women 2-0 in the third round of FA Cup qualifying.
A new club record of 187 fans turned up to the Tiger Turf stadium to see City reach the fourth round of qualifying, where they will play Moneyfields FC on Sunday, October 22.
Should they defeat Tom Hussey’s side in three weeks time, they will earn a place in the first round proper of the competition.
Goals either side of halftime from Kally Lloyd and Rakiya Morgan-King were enough to see off Bath as City won 2-0.
Hill was delighted with his side’s encouraging performance and spoke highly of his team’s approach.
“The game itself probably wasn’t as pretty as a number of people would have wanted, but we knew Bath’s threat, and we devised a plan to combat them.
“We knew when we got into their half that we would be a threat with our front free.
“I know it was a set piece that opened the scoring, but we created a number of opportunities that on another day we could have made it a 4-0, 5-0 win, but it just wasn’t to be. We had to fight and battle as they’re a good, organised side.”
Hill was over the moon with the turnout yesterday afternoon.
“For the team, I know the team appreciates everyone that comes down and supports. It creates one hell of an atmosphere to play in front of and makes it more tough for the opposition.
“Very few clubs will attract anywhere near one hundred plus supporters. We had 187, which is a club record for us, and fortunately, we managed to get the win to send most of them away happy.
“I thought the majority that got behind us would have been pleased with our performance, to be honest,” he said.
Hill also mentioned how important the FA Cup will be for his side.
“The FA Cup is always a big competition for me. I thoroughly enjoy playing against teams that we don’t normally come up against. Obviously, the draw is today, and we find out what the next step is, we’ll do our research on the opposition, and they’ll do theirs on us.
“We’re not there just to make up the numbers, we want to do well and set a good standard for the upcoming season. We’ll balance both the league and the cup responsibilities.
“Obviously, the league is our main focus, but the FA Cup will bring in money which is much needed. But the league is our main focus, we want to have a good season and show what we are about.” He said.
City will welcome Bitton Ladies to the Tiger Turf Stadium at the weekend, hoping to continue their winning streak, having won their last three fixtures in all competitions.
