Gwalia United will play their first FA Women’s National League home fixture of the season on Sunday, when Bournemouth Sports make the trip to the USW Sport Park, with kick-off set for 2pm.
Cori Williams-Mills’ side got their league campaign under way in style, overcoming Ascot United 6-0 on the opening weekend. Molly Kehoe had the honour of scoring the very first goal of the season across the entire FA Women’s National League, while debutante Esme Kilburn-Thompson marked her first league appearance for the club with a hat-trick. Gwalia will be hoping to carry that momentum into their first outing in front of their home supporters this season.
Speaking ahead of the game, Gwalia manager Cori Williams-Mills said: “The result at Ascot was a fantastic way to begin our league campaign, but it was also a continuation of the work the players had put in throughout pre-season.”
She added: “Bournemouth Sports will provide another test for us today, and we will approach the game with the same focus, intensity and professionalism that we have demanded throughout pre-season.”
Sunday’s visitors will be making their first ever trip to the USW Sport Park. Bournemouth Sports Ladies were formed in May 2013 and earned promotion to Tier 4 at the end of the 2023-24 season. Last season was only their second campaign in the FA Women’s National League Division One South West, which ended with a 10th-placed finish.
Sports also opened their season with a win, edging past Keynsham Town 2-1 at home courtesy of a brace from Molly Gladwell, with both goals set up by Liane Folkenstern. The club have added both youth and experience to their squad over the summer, and will be targeting further progress this season.
Head-to-Head
The two clubs have met once before, in the Women’s FA Cup Third Round in December 2022. On that occasion, Tier 4 Cardiff City Ladies – as Gwalia United were then known – ran out 5-0 winners against their Tier 5 opponents, with two goals apiece from current Gwalia manager Cori Williams-Mills and Kerry Bartlett, plus one from Ruby Scahill, in front of a crowd of 155 at Ocean Way in Cardiff.
Match Officials
The game will be refereed by Luke Fabry of the Army Football Association, assisted by Oliver Spender of Gloucestershire Football Association and Luke Hinchliffe of Wiltshire Football Association.
Getting Here
If you’re coming to the USW Sport Park for the very first time, make sure you read our Visiting Fans Guide for all the information you need to plan your day.
Tickets
Tickets for the game are priced at £6 (adults), £3 (over-65s) and £2 (under-16s), and are available via the Gwalia United ticketing website.
Match Day Programme
Have a read of our free digital match day programme for the game. The programme is packed with team news, player features, match reports and everything else you need to know about the game.
