Late Rovers goals end Magpies' unbeaten run despite Chapman's first strike

Maidenhead United Women saw their eight-game unbeaten run come to an end on Sunday afternoon as late goals from high-flying Bristol Rovers gave the scoreline at Yate Town a rather harsh look. The bright spot for United came with a first senior goal for 16 year-old Chloe Chapman.

United were on the offensive early on in this game as in-form Megan Harper slalomed through the opposition defence in familiar style to test restored home goalkeeper George Hunt. Maidenhead did however have an early warning when Chloe Bassett put a good chance wide at the near post following good work by the impressive Abbey Hateley. The warning was not heeded because with the very next attack Rovers led when a ball in from the right hand side this time was steered home by Hateley. United thereafter struggled to settle and found themselves two goals adrift after a little over a quarter of an hour, Meg Jarvis beating the Magpies defensive line and putting the ball out of reach of Kody Cornish into the corner of the net.

Maidenhead largely failed to impose themselves for the remainder of the half, Harper and Martha Riley exchanged passes for the latter to get a shot on goal but there was a blow before the break when Molly McKeever withdrew feeling unwell and was replaced by Chapman. The susbtitute was an early threat in the second half, linking up with Izzy Stockton and drawing a save from Hunt but by that time the hosts had already missed a presentable chance and on the hour Cornish had to be alert to save from Nia Rees.

For the final third of the game, Maidenhead seemed to relax and settle in to a match played on a soft and bobbly surface. Megan Harper's wicked cross was hacked behind for a corner which was taken short and resulted in Lyndsey Preston sending in a shot at goal well saved by Hunt. Aaliyah Charles got in a shot at goal from a Chapman pull back as Maidenhead sought to get on the scoresheet before an attempted lob from Stockton went over the top. Cornish made a further save from Rees before Chapman halved the defecit, latching onto Charley Evans long ball and holding off Rovers defenders to score with a maturity and composure beyond her years.

Maidenhead now appeared to have the upper hand with eight minutes left and Rovers seemingly tiring. Unfortunately, the home side countered from a Maidenhead free-kick and Jarvis clinically finished a third goal. Cornish thereafter had to pull off another impressive save before Jarvis was again sent clear to finish her hat-trick as Maidenhead reached the halfway point of the season in the top half of the table on 13-points, six clear of the relegation zone.