Bath City Women (0) 2 Weston Super Mare Ladies (0) 1 – Thursday 1 May 2025 – Somerset FA Junior Cup Final – Ironmould Lane
Match Report by Mark Stillman.
Bath City Women clinched their first silverware in last Thursday’s Somerset Junior Cup final.
Goals from Jasmine Rennie and Adella Clarke saw off Weston-super-Mare at Ironmould Lane, home of Brislington FC.
Laura Jones pulled one back for the Seagulls to set up a nervy finale.
But City stood firm, with Sadie Farley outstanding in goal, to spark mass celebrations at full-time.
Matt Abreu’s team hadn’t won in four games since their semi-final success at Nailsea, but made a confident start against a Weston side similarly placed in the sistering South West Regional Southern division.
Rennie’s ball in from the byline looked inviting for the onrushing Libby Goater but Karmisha Wilson read the danger to vitally snuff out her effort.
Maddy Brown’s deft lob over Jayde Holcombe was ruled out for offside and Erin Duffy’s free-kick from near the byline stung the gloves of the Weston keeper, who batted away to safety.
Brown shot too close to Holcombe from the edge of the box while Weston were only restricted to efforts from distance themselves, all comfortably dealt with by Farley.
That theme continued in the second half with Tash Crew’s volley from 25 yards bouncing straight into Farley’s hands.
The City keeper was happy to watch substitute Laura McGlone drag a shot wide before Weston’s promising start to the half was undone on 53 minutes.
Koz Thorner-Atkinson set Tara Taylor away down the right, who played inside to Goater on the edge of the box.
Goater’s shot bounced against the inside of the post, flashed back across goal and hit the other post, with City’s luck seemingly out.
Fortunately for them, Rennie reacted quickest to finish from an acute angle, with replacement keeper Grace Southey only able to help the ball into the net.
It was Rennie’s first goal for the first team having come through the Development side, even appearing for them for an hour the night previous in a 2-2 draw with Paulton Rovers Reserves.
Confidence was up for the Romans, with Weston clearly stunned by conceding their first goal in the competition this season.
Brown’s excellent first touch created space for herself down the left before dragging wide of Southey’s left post.
The Seagulls nearly found a leveller when Sam Crew’s ball over the top saw top scorer Vik Khandusenko connect on the stretch, with Farley denying her with her legs before the ball ricocheted behind for a corner.
City made their first switch with their leading scorer Clarke replacing Brown, and she took just four and a half minutes to make it 2-0.
Duffy’s free-kick was allowed to bounce in the box and Clarke beat Roza Bailey in the air to plant a header inside Southey’s left post.
It was her 12th of the season and first since opening the scoring in the semi-final success over Nailsea United.
Weston came back fighting with Tash Crew’s free-kick beating the wall but again the safe hands of Farley prevented further scares.
They pulled one back on 81 minutes with arguably the best move of the game.
Khandusenko, McGlone and Tash Crew combined before Ellie Burrows cleverly slipped it through to Jones, who poked the ball through the onrushing Farley’s legs to halve the deficit.
With six minutes of added time signalled, Weston found a new lease of life as McGlone’s free-kick was eventually acrobatically helped over by Khandusenko when grounded.
Sam Crew’s stinging effort from the angle of the penalty area needed to be tipped around by Farley for a corner.
The same player’s free-kick in her own half was inadvertently helped back by Duffy but Farley pounced to gather, met by cheers almost as loud as both City’s goals.
Her resulting drop-kick was the final act of the game as the players and coaching staff jumped for joy at clinching their first cup since reforming in 2022.
The players lifted the trophy aloft with a spectacular firework display in the background to cap off a memorable evening in style.
City’s Line-Up: Farley; Gray (Key 89), Fry, Trivett; Taylor, Thorner-Atkinson (Cutler 82), Goater, Spratt (Hemmings 90), Duffy; Brown (Clarke 67), Rennie (Bloomfield 90+7).
Scorers: City – Rennie (53), Clarke (73); Weston – Jones (81)
Officials: M Kerfoot, K Stephens, M Webber, I Harley (4th)