GILLINGHAM LADIES NEWS WITH JULIAN HART
UNBEATEN START FOR GILLS LADIES Gillingham Ladies have made a strong start to the new FA Women’s Premier League Season, beating MK Dons LFC at their new home ground of Corinthian Sports Club last Sunday, having drawn away at Luton Town LFC in the opening game seven days earlier. The Gills raced to a three-goal lead in the first half against MK Dons, their first game at their new home in Longfield. April Bowers scored a penalty in the opening five minutes of the game, and they doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark, as Amy Taylor dodged past the Milton Keynes Dons defenders’ challenges to place a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net. 58 THE GILLS
Flowing football led to the third goal: a smart one-two pass between Bowers and Lauren Williams on the edge of the box saw the latter find time to coolly slot home. The Dons managed to pull one goal back midway through the second half, when a looping shot from outside of the penalty box managed to beat Gills goalkeeper Courtney Shanly, who could not get a hand to stop the shot going in. Foundation This victory built on the strong foundation the team gave themselves in their 1-1 draw away to Luton on the opening day. The Gills line-up saw the return of two former players,
Vicky Ashton-Jones and Fliss Gibbons. Ashton-Jones, who previously spent seven seasons at the Gills between 2007 and 2014, joins from Brighton and Hove Albion WFC on loan. Gibbons signed from Millwall, having been a Gills player in the 2013/14 season, in which the club managed their highest-ever league finish of second in the Premier League South. After a balanced opening half, it was the hosts who took the lead just five minutes after the interval. Luton forward Dionne Manning latched onto Michelle Byrne’s through ball and slotted past Shanly. But just four minutes after conceding, the Gills Ladies www.gillinghamfootballclub.com
were level. Striker Gibbons converted a shot low into the bottom corner from 10 yards out. Despite a lot of pressure in search of a winning goal, the Gills Ladies had to settle for a point. “We were the better team, if I’m being honest,” said manager Jack Wheeler. “We were a bit nervy to start, but we had large spells after we got over those nerves. As we got into our stride, we showed we have more gears yet to go. The girls aren’t happy at the moment, but we’ve learned from today. “It’s not nice conceding any goal and it wasn’t ideal just after the half-time break, [but] these things happen - they’ve hit us on the break and scored. The good thing from our team is that we’ve managed to get back into it very quickly. Conceding didn’t affect our stride, which bodes well for the season.” Performance Goal scorer Gibbons admitted the players were as equally disappointed as the manager at not getting a winner. “We wanted to come out in the second half an put in a better performance than the first, [so] to go one-nil down was difficult and against what we had discussed at half-time,” she said. “We wanted to get that early goal, but we showed character to come back. When they went 1-0 up, we started to make more chances and I think we were the better team after conceding.” Gillingham’s next fixture is at home against Ipswich Town LFC next Sunday (September 11, 2pm KO). Come and #RoarUsOn as the Gills look to continue their unbeaten start to the league campaign. Adult admission is £3 and Under 16s go FREE, while our £25 season tickets are still available.
GILLINGHAM LADIES 2016/17 FIXTURES Luton Town LFC MK Dons LFC Southampton LFC (WPL Cup) Ipswich Town LFC Lowestoft Town LFC Denham United LFC Norwich City LFC Ipswich Town LFC Stevenage Ladies Enfield Town LFC Cambridge United LFC Lowestoft Town LFC Denham United LFC AFC Wimbledon Ladies Norwich City LFC Cambridge United LFC Old Actonians LFC Luton Town LFC MK Dons LFC Enfield Town LFC Stevenage Ladies Old Actonians LFC AFC Wimbledon LFC
21/08/16 28/08/16 04/09/16 11/09/16 02/10/16 16/10/16 23/10/16 30/10/16 06/11/16 20/11/16 27/11/16 04/12/16 11/12/16 18/12/16 22/01/17 29/01/17 05/02/17 12/02/17 19/02/17 05/03/17 12/03/17 23/04/17 14/05/17
1-1 3-1 A H H H H A H A H A A H A A H H A H A A A
All fixtures are WPL SE Division matches and 2pm kick-offs, unless stated otherwise.
@TheGillsFC
THE GILLS 59