Chris Church | The second-half performance was phenomenal

Swansea City interim coach Chris Church praised the determination of his players as two late goals capped a “phenomenal” second-half display and fired them into the second round of the Bute Energy Welsh Cup.

The Swans had trailed when Cardiff Met put themselves ahead early in the first half, Faith Mulenga sliding a shot into the bottom corner 15 minutes in.

But Chloe Chivers got the visitors on level terms with 15 minutes to go, her low shot at the back post finally beating the Cardiff Met goalkeeper.

With two minutes left Chivers popped up yet again, her dangerous delivery into the six-yard box forcing an own goal by Sophie Davidson to see the Swans progress to the second round.

Church was delighted to progress in the cup and felt the players had shown great character to snatch victory late on.

“You could see what it meant to the team, and to myself and the staff,” said Church.

“I think the first half was a bit indifferent, but the second half, that was the old us, I think that second-half performance was phenomenal.

“At half-time I asked the players for that grit and that character, that bit of mentality that they’ve shown to get themselves get back in the game, and they’ve given that in abundance.

“After a big defeat here in a big game, to come back here and get the win the way we did, that’s all down to the players, they were phenomenal.”

The Swansea coach also hailed Chivers’ ability to deliver in big moments after she played a key role in both goals.

“One thing you know with Chloe Chivers is that she will pop up with one or two moments and, when she does, they are normally game changers,” added Church.

“To be fair I thought there were a couple of game changers out there, Nieve Jenkins was a game changer when she came on, so I’m really pleased with that.

“This club is built on success and the Welsh Cup is something we’ve always wanted to win, and hopefully this will be a springboard for us now.”