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WSLHC 1s v Gwent 1s - Welsh Cup Final Report

Result - WSLHC 1s [2] - Gwent 1s [1]

After a successful league season, WSLHC 1s faced Newport Gwent 1s in the Welsh cup final and for a place in Europe. The team turned up on a sunny Sunday, full of optimism and enthusiasm, but knowing this was going to be a tough match after two close losses to Gwent in the league.

A good warm up meant we started with intensity, pressing Gwent high and winning back possession, earning an early short corner. A well practised routine, where Megan Smith deflected Jen Tilbury’s shot into the roof of the net, gave us a well-deserved lead and the many, loud supporters something to cheer about early on in the match.

The first half continued in a similar fashion, where we dominated possession (and the card count), resulting in multiple short corners, but the Gwent defence held firm and their goalkeeper played well to keep the score 1-0 at half time. We went into the break knowing we were the stronger team and had the ability to stretch the lead, and started the second half that way.

More short corners and near-misses started to frustrate the team and left us vulnerable to a late break. Another short corner routine was stopped on the line by a Gwent foot and the umpire had no hesitation in awarding a penalty flick. The captain Amy Brook stepped up to take it and scored, giving us some breathing space and confidence we could see out the game.

The frustration of Gwent started to show as they received multiple cards, but we kept calm and stayed in control. In the last 10 seconds, Gwent were awarded a short corner, and converted it to give them a consolation goal after the final whistle, but by that point it didn’t matter – we had won the match and qualified for Europe for the first time in the club’s history!

This fantastic result was due to the dedication of the whole team over the entire season, as well as the superb coaching of Andy Hughes and the support of everyone involved, especially the brilliant supporters who made it a day to remember!