Page 14 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.33 2021-22

Pennies back in top flight

Priding itself on the ethos ‘Develop as a Club, Deliver as a Family’, this season saw Abergavenny
Women FC grow from such bonds.
Last year's shake up of the women's domestic game in Wales saw the Pennies (they play at
Pen-Y-Pound) deemed as not meeting new Tier 1 requirements, being demoted despite their fourth
place in the Welsh Premier League, and even gaining a last match draw away at Swansea City, the
league champions. Such a blow might have seen players walk away in droves but instead the
Pennies and their coaches showed huge resilience and got on with THE goal for the new season –
winning the Adran South league to gain promotion from Tier 2 and return to the top flight at the
first opportunity. Hard work on the pitch, matched by determination behind the scenes, brought
about a memorable season.
Having Tier 1 talent bumped down to Tier 2 – virtually all the squad stayed despite the ‘drop’
– saw the club experience some mismatches of complete domination, such as an 18-goal win at
Talycopa AFC on October 24, and a 15-goal win at Merthyr Town on February 27, but team manager
Craig Morgan-Hill considers there to be four ‘big results’ as significant moments that led to the title:
● December 5 – Cardiff Bluebelles at home, with a 94th minute winner from striker Lyndsey
Davies.
● February 13 – Cardiff Bluebelles away, a 6-2 win – “no other team went to Bluebelles and got
a result as good as that”, with Caitlin Davies in electric form for a hat trick.
● Finally, the last week (after a week-night defeat at Briton Ferry Llansawel in which the league
could have been clinched with two games in hand), the performances in two ‘must win’
games: March 20 – Caldicot Town away (5-0), and then the night of March 23 saw the team
line up at home for their season finale against Cascade YC Ladies, never an easy team to play,
and win 3-0, the three league points gained giving the Pennies the league title. Although a
team effort, on the night it was forward Amy Thrupp that delivered all the goals with a perfect
hat-trick – right foot, left foot, and header.
The squad has goalscoring talent galore – 88 in just 14 league matches – and the top three
scorers in the league are all Pennies, Lyndsey Davies (24 goals), Maxine Mudge (14) and Lauren
Boyd (12), with Amy Thrupp on 11 goals despite only 7 league appearances. Delving further into the
figures, across all competitions Lyndsey Davies (pictured) scored 34 goals and provided 10 assists,
while Lauren Boyd’s impressive tally of 15 goals was overshadowed by her 16 assists.
Perhaps most incredibly, 16 of the regular squad members scored in open play, including first
choice goalkeeper Charlotte Hastings when on an outing as a striker! In addition, a dozen of the 25
players seeing first team action were teenagers, and many of those enjoyed the progression
available directly from the club’s new Under-19 squad.
One such player is Olivia Barnes, who played in all of the first team’s league matches this year,
as well as in cup campaigns and in the U19 squad, amassing 2,675 minutes of pitch time across 32
appearances. Alongside her in the midfield was captain Ceri Hudson, a long standing member of
the club who leads by example through an outstanding work-rate.
Counter balancing the attack, just eight league goals were conceded for a +80 goal difference,
including ten clean sheets, while cup competitions saw the
Pennies net another 42 goals and concede 9. Overall, a tally
of 130 goals in open play in just 22 first team matches is an
eye opener. The team has done its talking on the pitch and
proved itself more than capable, and meanwhile much more
has been going on behind the scenes in readiness to make the
return of top flight football a reality. With promotion now
confirmed, team Manager Craig Morgan-Hill was quick to
praise the wider team:
“I can't thank Stu Summers and Stu Sherrard enough
for all their efforts behind the scenes to make this happen. To
‘Nashy’ (Jonathan Nash) for his support and quality
coaching this year, and to Andrew Brooker, Adam Bidhendy
Issue no. 33 - 5 May 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk