Jodie is the jewel as Cirencester claim Cup success
DAN Ray believes that organisation was the key to Cirencester Town Ladies’ 2-0 victory over Dursley in the final of the Women’s Challenge Cup at the GFA’S Oaklands Park headquarters last Thursday evening, writes Keith Watson.
Teenager Jodie Bailey scored a goal in each half for the Centurions, poking home an early opener after a goalmouth scramble before steering in a neat finish for the second 15 minutes from time, but joint-manager Ray was keen to highlight a whole team performance, carrying their own attacking threats while nullifying Dursley’s.
“I think we were organised from the off, that was the key thing,” said Ray. “Everyone was switched on from the moment we turned up.
“The girls know that if they play as an 11 they’ll be fine. They’ve learned throughout the season that when they go up against the better teams you can’t switch off, and you can’t play as individuals.”
Ray acknowledged that playing on an artificial surface - as they do for home games - was in Cirencester’s favour, and they appeared more at ease in passing and moving throughout the match.
Dursley seemed to be waiting for an individual to spark something, but the free-kicks of Lucy Jones and the trickery of top-scorer Morgan Tayler yielded just one half-chance, as Tayler’s cutback for Phoebe Booth was well-smothered by goalkeeper Anna Margetts.
“We knew what Dursley were about,” added Ray. “They’re very good from set-pieces, so we had to keep it away from Morgan and Lucy. We doubled-up on Morgan and kept her as quiet as we could.
“We had to focus on our own game too, and we kept the ball on the floor as much as we could and dictated things better than in the League games.
“We worked on pressing high, and not stopping until the ball goes out. That paid off for Jodie’s first goal, and it changes the game.”
While Dursley have been battling to reach both cup finals and pushing Bristol Rovers Development for the title in Division Two of the County League, Ray admitted Cirencester’s mid-season loss of form allowed him to pay extra attention to their clash with Dursley.
“We’ve been able to look at some new tactics and new ideas in the past three or four games, all in preparation for the final, but next season I want to see us pushing on and challenging for the title.”
Despite coming out on the losing side, Dursley boss Suze Stanley-greaves found it easy to focus on the positives in what is by some distance the most exciting campaign in the club’s 20-year history.
She said: “We put in a good performance, but were just beaten by a stronger team on the night. I can’t fault the effort from the ladies, and can’t stress enough how well they all did to even get to the final.
“We still hope to secure second spot in the League, and we’ve got our other final against Longwell Green in the Gordon Perrett Cup. We’ve already exceeded all of our own expectations.”
Cirencester did at least do Dursley a favour on Sunday by beating Tuffley 3-1 in the League with goals from Eden Marsh, Robyn Evans and Bec Brannan, with Chloe Taylor replying.
The result means that Dursley will almost certainly finish as runners-up, with Tuffley third, Cirencester fourth and Cheltenham Civil Service fifth.
In Division Three, Anna Howes scored in Winchcombe’s 2-1 defeat at Downend Reserves.
Forest Green lost 3-1 to Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium in a friendly. Zoe Boyd put the visitors ahead early on, but the Gas Girls fought back.
The Green Devils conclude their South West League campaign at home to St Austell on Sunday, while in the County League Dursley host Ellwood, and Kingswood entertain Winchcombe.