Published Sunday 22nd November 2020 In the second friendly for our women’s side we welcomed Cardiff Bluebirds to Aberaman Park in what was always going to be a stern test against a side from the division above. Missing several players who picked up impact injuries in the win seven days previous against Tonyrefail their cause wasn’t helped with goalkeeper Jordan Cleaver limping off after only 10 minutes of the start with a muscle strain. Aber’s only substitute for the game happened to be another ‘keeper in Jess Clayton - who would go on to pick up the player of the match award. Clayton had little chance with the opening goal of the afternoon after 21 minutes and before half-time the visitors had added two more, although not for the heroics of the replacement custodian it could have been more. With a makeshift back four marshaled by Clayton the team continued to battle but Cardiff would add another two goals to their tally after the break for the game to finish with a 5-0 victory for the capital based outfit. On the game boss Zoe Denman-Ellis commented: “The result aside I thought that our teamwork throughout was excellent, we kept going and Cardiff deserved their win, they exploited our mistakes and were a constant threat. When you consider this was only the second game the team have played, and with so many missing due to the injuries picked up last week and even in the warm-up today, to battle on and holding their own in large parts of the game I’m immensely proud of them all. “We had our chances too which we just couldn’t take but despite the scoreline there are plenty of positives we can take from the game and especially the added match experience we have picked up against an established side who have been together for the last few years it shows where we want to go to as a Club”. Harrent Properties Player of the Match: Jess Clayton

Women lose to higher league side