Swansea City secure late win to knock out Cardiff Met out of Welsh Cup
SWANSEA, WALES - 24 SEPTEMBER 2023: Chloe Chivers of Swansea City Women in the Genero Adran Premier fixture between Swansea City Women Fc and Barry Town Utd FC at Llandarcy Academy of Sport, Swansea, Wales. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
Swansea City scored late to advance past Cardiff Met to the next round of the Bute Energy Welsh Cup.
Chloe Chivers scored twice as the Swans came from behind following Faith Muleng’s opener to beat their arch-nemesis Met.
It was all Cardiff Met in the first half, as Swansea lacked control of the match to start off with, and they struggled to cause any problems for the hosts.
There no tempo in their game, and their attacks were incredibly slow. In defence as well, Met’s Faith Mulenga and Ingrid Aadland utilised their pace to cause them problems.
Eventually, Mulenga’s pace was too much for Swansea’s defence as she tucked it in the back of Swansea goalkeeper Chelsea Herbert’s net, after a brilliant and creative move from the midfield trickled into the Met goalscorer’s feet.
Met captain Erin Murray was quick with her short and crisp passes, often finding one of the two forwards in Mulenga and Aadland. Swansea defence seemed incredibly lethargic defending Met’s counter-attacks, often their only way of going forward.
Chris Church’s women were playing a slow build-up possession-based football, often finding a Met player on their way into the box, with hardly any wing play. Met, on the other hand, utilised almost every player in midfield and attack on their way forward.
After the much-needed half-time break for the Swans, they keep back a highly improved team. Cardiff Met did not see much of the ball throughout the second half, not even for their counter-attacks. Swansea’s defence, led by Jessica Williams, pulled up their socks and gave Met a very hard time on the rare occasion that the Archers saw the ball.
Swansea captain Katy Hosford, who was hardly visible in the first half, made a slight move to the left of the pitch, which provided a major boost for the Swans as they could attack with much composure down the left. Chloe Chivers moved to the right and started dictating play on the right. Swansea were attacking from both wings, and the midfielders were feeding them every chance they got.
The relentless attack by Swansea finally resulted in the equaliser in the 77th minute, after a curling low shot by Chloe Chivers proved too much for Met goalie Charlotte Smith, who could not dive down to her left in time.
After the equaliser, Swansea had their tail up throughout, and in the penultimate minute of regulation time, as Met full-back Sophie Davidson headed a curling free-kick into her own net in an attempt to head it out of play.
The comeback was complete, and Swansea’s second-half domination proved to be too much to the flying first-half heroes of Cardiff Met.
Cardiff Met Women: Charlotte Smith, Sophie Davidson, Faith Mulenga (Sally Grimm 67), Tiggeraa Webb, Grace Corne, Emily Bayliss, Amy Long, Arwen Neale (Emily Nicholson 90), Ingrid Aadland, Erin Murray (captain), Anna Houghton.
Unused subs: Alysha Hawkins, Leah Samuel, Eve Pearson.
Swansea City Women: Chelsea Herbert, Alicia Powe, Lucy Finch, Stephanie Turner (Kelsey Thomas 71), Ellie Lake, Chloe Chivers, Katy Hosford (captain), Stacey John-Davis, Sophie Hancocks, Emily Thomas (Nieve Jenkins 45), Jessica Williams.
Unused subs: Rachel Cullen, Monet Legall, Lilly Owen.
