Swindon Town Women finished their 2023/24 FAWNL season with a thrilling 5-4 away victory over Torquay United Women, despite a late fightback in the second half from the home side on Sunday afternoon.
An impressive first-half showing from Swindon Town Women saw them score five, before showing late determination
Town Women made two changes to the side which was victorious in their penultimate game against Abingdon, as they looked to finish 23/24 with a positive result in the FAWNL.
Despite a 10-minute delay to kick-off, it didn't stop Town from starting the game brightly with Meg Jarvis opening the scoring in the game in just the first minute with the forward poking home from a dangerous Ellie Strippel cross to give Swindon Town the lead just a minute in.
This bright start continued for Town with midfielder Taylor Macdonald striking from a distance but forced a brilliant block, as Swindon were unable to make the most of the resulting corner.
Annie Colston was next to try her luck but the Gulls' keeper pulled off an impressive save in the seventh minute to deny the Town's top scorer. Just two minutes later, however, Colston had her goal with a well-taken penalty giving Swindon a two-goal lead with less than 10 minutes played.
Four minutes later, it was 3-0 to Swindon Town, with full-back Gipsy Viveash able to come forward and unleash a powerful shot that was too much for the Torquay goalkeeper and made things even more impressive for Swindon Town Women early in the first half.
The goalscoring, unfortunately, slowed down from here, with the next chance falling for Swindon in the 26th minute when Meg Jarvis fired goalward and forced another good save from the Torquay keeper midway through the first half.
There was still time in the first half for Town to get themselves further in front however, when Helena Diaz-Butcher got in on the act to slot past the onrushing goalkeeper in the 36th minute following impressive work from Holly Randall and Meg Jarvis again.
Torquay was able to shorten the advantage with a late goal in the first half to see Town look to ensure there was not to be a second-half comeback, but nerves were settled when Annie Colston found her second of the game in the 44th minute to restore Town's four-goal lead going into the half-time interval.
Half-time: Torquay United Women 1 Swindon Town Women 5
Changes were introduced in both the 55th, 65th and 69th minute as Town looked to fresh legs to see out the victory in their final FAWNL fixture of 23/24, with their opponents knowing they needed to come out strong in the second half to ensure their survival in the league for next season.
With this in mind, a late goalscoring spree came for Torquay with goals in the 70th, 71st and 73rd minute providing a well-contested final 17 minutes or so for both sides, but Swindon Town Women remained resolute to see out the victory and finish in fourth place in the FAWNL with a total of 41 points, their highest points total since 2015 to wrap up what has been an overall successful season for Town Women in 23/24.
Swindon Town Women: McGrogan, Sherwood, Viveash, Graham, Randall (Hull 55), Jarvis, MacDonald (Haines 55), Colston (Vandries 69), Diaz-Butcher (Beck-Esson 65), Strippel (Rees 65), Clifford (C)
Goals: Jarvis 1, Colston 8 (P), 44, Viveash 13, Diaz-Butcher 36
