Reserves
Prince Of Wales 0-3 Gillingham Reserves
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on August 20, 2009
Gillingham Ladies Reserves carried on their fine pre-season form with a well-earned 3-0 win over Prince Of Wales in Canterbury.
Sean Edwards’ team had to use their experience to overcome a lively Prince Of Wales team and a fantastic first half display by keeper Jessica Nunn earned them the win.
Prince Of Wales, a new team in the SEWCFL league, have several Canterbury City players so Gillingham knew this would be a good test for them.
Prince Of Wales started the brighter and had the Gills pinned in their own half in the first 10-15 minutes, with Jessica Nunn pulling off a fantastic save to keep it level.
A lot of the play was a long ball over the top of the Gills defence but Jess’s positioning meant she commanded her box and kept in control.
As the half progressed Gills weathered the storm and Charlotte Abbott and Rachel Ahern started testing their shooting range as Gillingham started to get a grip on the match.
In the second half the introduction of the experienced Leanne Stevens seemed to give Gills the upper hand. Within a couple of minutes of the restart Gills found themselves 1-0 up when a mix up in the box led to a Prince Of Wales defender scoring an own goal.
Gills went 2-0 up midway through the second half when Stevens scored direct from her own corner, when she bent the ball in at the near post.
After the second goal Gillingham began to relax. They seized control of the game and had several other opportunities, encouraged by the vocal support of some of the first team girls who came down after their training session to show what a close-knit squad the Gills now have.
Finally Abbott grabbed the goal she had been threatening all evening when she broke into the penalty area and slotted calmly past the keeper.
Manager Sean Edwards was delighted with his team’s performance and the way they overcame a difficult start to the match.
Gillingham Ladies Reserves: Nunn, Scott, Bolden (c), Foster, Reynolds, Ridge, Goodall, Ahern, Jamieson, Abbott, Phillips
Subs: Stevens, Roulston
Scorers: Own Goal, Stevens, Abbott
