MATCH REPORT: Cyncoed Ladies 3-0 Rhyl Ladies – Mighty Oaks show class to progress to final
Cyncoed Ladies are into the League Cup final after seeing off North Wales opposition Rhyl in the semi-final with a convincing victory.
The Mighty Oaks will play fellow Cardiff side Cardiff Metropolitan University in an all Cardiff final after an impressive victory.
Caitlin Bevan, Jessica Williams, and Julia Moulton all found themselves on the score sheet at Llanrumney Uni Fields, controlling the game well and never looking like losing.
Early on in the match, Caitlin Bevan found Athina Varnava in space for the first opportunity of the game and her shot forced Amy Webster to tip the ball behind.
Cyncoed’s Lauren Harris then went for a curling effort on the edge of the box but her shot went narrowly wide of the target.
The home sides early pressure paid off as Caitlin Bevan broke into the box and she slid the ball past Webster in the Rhyl goal into the corner, with a composed finish.
Just moments after, Cyncoed had the chance to double their lead as Gwen Davies found Julia Moulton in the box but Webster made an instinctive save as she slid with her body, kicking it out of play for a corner.
The same combination of Davies and Moulton almost worked again as Davies played a sublime pass to Julia Moulton who tried to tuck it low past Webster but Lucy Vaughan was there to clear the ball off the line.
The home side enjoyed the opening forty-five minutes, restricting Rhyl to attacks from distance. The Lilywhites’ Paige Williams was Rhyl’s bright spark as she showed glimpses of what she could do, with a number of attacks down her flank.
The second forty-five started better for the visitors, Williams forced Laura O’Sullivan into an early save as she fumbled the shot initially, but grasped it gracefully to avoid any rebound.
Their positive start to the half continued, despite captain Rachael Nattrass not hitting her free-kick cleanly, it found the path of Tonicha Dickens, but O’Sullivan had done enough to put her off, to force her to put her shot wide.
Optimism went out of the window though for Rhyl just minutes later, Jessica Williams who went close earlier in the game with a free-kick, forced the ball into the net with a powerful header to give Cyncoed some breathing space.
In trying to get back into the game, Tom Jamieson made the decision to swap Amy Webster whose primary position is a striker, with outfielder Tonicha Dickens, as Jamieson aimed to use the height of Webster.
Rhyl tried to find their route back into the game, Emily Jones was tugged by the Cyncoed defence but she was able to muster a shot at goal but to no avail.
They were enjoying a spell on the ball as they continued to pepper the Cyncoed goal, but they had to be aware of the home sides ability to counter-attack. Rebecca Williams made a crucial tackle on half-way to prevent substitute Kirstie Pervin-Davies from starting a counter-attack.
As the game approached stoppage time, the result was beyond any doubt as Pervin-Davies found Bevan and she scored with a fortunate finish.
Rhyl’s Mills had the last piece of the action as she had a tame effort in the box, but it failed to test O’Sullivan who kept her clean sheet intact.
Cyncoed Ladies
O’Sullivan, Jenkins, Broad (C), Williams, Bevan, Davies, Varnava (Tinman 73′), Harris (Moore 73′), Grant, Hill (Pervin-Davies 45), Moulton
Goals:
Caitlin Bevan 8′
Jessica Williams 48′
Julia Moulton 88′
Rhyl Ladies
Webster, Davies-Smith, Sawns, Jones, Bannister, P Williams (Lloyd 83′), Dickens, Mills, Vaughan, L Williams, Nattrass (C)
(Featured Image: Tracey Lintern)
