Report: Bristol City Women 0-6 Chelsea.

A hat-trick from Sam Kerr, a brace from Fran Kirby and a goal from Guro Reiten saw the reining-champions retain the trophy in what was the Robins’ first-ever Conti Cup final appearance.

What happened? 

Kerr gave Chelsea the lead early on with the first chance of the game.

A quick counterattack after winning possession on the halfway line saw Fran Kirby played through on goal, but the forward unselfishly rolled the ball to the far post for Sam Kerr to tap in from close range.

Sam Kerr grabbed her second of the game just after the 10-minute mark.

The Blues’ high press saw Kirby win possession back on the edge of the City box and she found Sam Kerr again who drilled past Sophie Baggaley into the bottom corner.

Kirby had set up the first two and got herself on the scoresheet to add a third. The England international capitalised on a stray goal-kick and fired home from range.

Kirby got her second and Chelsea’s fourth when she locked onto a through ball, twisted onto her right, and shot back across goal into the bottom corner despite Baggaley’s best efforts to keep out the shot.

Chelsea added a fifth just after halftime when Kirby charged towards goal and pulled it back to Kerr who tapped home for her hat-trick.

Kirby got her fourth assist of the game as she squared the ball to Guro Reiten inside the box, and the Norwegian international brushed the ball past Baggaley to make it six.

City nearly pulled a goal back when Ebony Salmon jinxed her way past Mille Bright and found herself one-on-one, but a strong hand from Ann-Kathrin Berger denied Salmon from finding the top corner.

Salmon had another good chance to get her name on the scoresheet when she was played in down the right, but some good tracking back from Jess Carter did enough to make the angle tight for the striker as her effort was punched over by the ‘keeper.

Substitute Abi Harrison and Salmon continued to look for a consolation goal as the match went on, however it wasn’t meant to be for the Robins as the full-time whistle went, with Chelsea coming out victorious in the Conti Cup final.

Teams:

Bristol City Women: Baggaley, Bryson, Evans©(Rafferty, 80), Humphrey (Palmer, 66), Salmon, Daniels, Wellings, Bissell (Harrison, 46), Purfield, Mastrantonio, Skeels (Layzell, 85).

Substitutions: Smith, Allen, Palmer, Collis, Layzell, Jones.

Chelsea Women: Berger, Bright, Ingle (Spence, 46), Leupolz (Cuthbert, 46), Reiten, Kirby (Carter, 60), Eriksson (C), Fleming, Mjelde, Kerr (Charles, 60), Andersson (Blundell, 46).

Substitutes: Musovic, Telford, Ji, Harder.  

Player of the Match: Gemma Evans

The score line doesn’t reflect the performance of the Welsh international.

Evans was strong at the back from start to finish with the centre-half making some excellent last-ditch tackles in the box as well as putting her body on the line to clear danger.

Author: Lewis Barton

Match Report Sponsor: University of the West of England