Tash is Town cup saviour

From the archive, first published Tuesday 25th Oct 2005.

LAURA Morgan was the goalscoring hero for Swindon Town in the Women's FA Cup but it was goalkeeper Tash Chapman who cemented their place in the second round.

Morgan put Town Ladies ahead early on against Yeovil but Chapman produced a fine penalty save to preserve that lead as the hosts triumphed 1-0 at Aldbourne.

Underdogs Yeovil play in a league below Swindon and had to come through two qualifying hurdles to make the first round proper.

But they have been in fine goalscoring form and proved a major threat.

Swindon started the game with a 3-5-2 formation with the focus being on attacking wide from midfield.

It proved an early success when in the first attack of the game Morgan was given the ball out wide.

A run at the Yeovil defence ended with Morgan scouring her fifth goal of the season from a perfectly weighted shot over keeper Kim Turner to put Swindon one up.

It was the perfect start but Town were unable to build on it and Yeovil seized the initiative giving Fraya Keen and Tara Lofts plenty to do in defence.

Swindon had to wait until the 30-minute mark for their next real attack when good work from Kim Reeves and Michelle Brown set Clare Morton free in the Yeovil area but the shot was straight at the visiting keeper.

Swindon had to reshuffle before the break when Clare Morton had to go off injured but the home team took their lead into the interval.

Rich forced a fine save from Turner early in the second half but Yeovil were handed a golden chance to level on the hour when a clumsy challenge inside the penalty area from Swindon defender Sam Quinn handed the Somerset outfit a penalty.

The Yeovil No 9 hit a firm spot-kick but Chapman dived to her left to save.

Swindon had another lucky escape when Lofts had to make a goal-line clearance from a Yeovil corner in the 88th minute.

Quinn was lucky to stay on the pitch when she brought down a Yeovil forward just outside the box with an apparent professional foul.

The resulting free-kick forced another fine save from Chapman and proved to be the last chance of the match.

Swindon now have a home match next week in the League Cup against Luton Town Ladies.

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