City Women produced a brilliant performance to advance to the final of the Bute Energy Welsh Cup with a 2-1 victory over Wrexham at Park Avenue.
Head Coach Iain Darbyshire named three changes to the side that lost to Wrexham 3-1 last week, bringing in Maddison Perrott, Mikayla Cook and Seren Thomas to the starting XI.
Both sides looked for opportunities to open the scoring early on, with Wrexham recording the first shot on target from Rosie Hughes, however Ceryn Chamberlain was equal to the effort to deny the striker.
Fiona Barry came closest for the Bluebirds in the opening 45 minutes, as Kerry Walklett’s cross into the area was cleared but fell to Barry, whose first-time strike at the near post was tipped behind for a corner.
Involved in the action again, Barry picked up a loose ball inside her own half and played in the run of Lily Billingham, with her shot deflecting over the bar.
Meanwhile, Wrexham created chances of their own, going close through Katie Barker’s header which crashed off the crossbar, and a header from Mikayla Wildgoose sailing over the bar but neither side able to find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes.
After the break, City broke after defending a free-kick, and Billingham found Perrott in space, but her shot was denied by Liz Craven.
But the Bluebirds broke the deadlock with just over 20 minutes to play, as Cook’s corner was cleared but only as far as Billingham, who played it straight back to Cook. She opened up her body and sent in a brilliant curling effort, finding the far corner.
City doubled their advantage seven minutes later, as Barry’s free-kick was delivered into a dangerous area, for Megan Bowen to run onto and guide it beyond Craven in goal.
Substitutes Mackenzie Olden and Madison Lloyd came close to adding a third, with Olden having an effort blocked off the line and another crashing off the post, while Lloyd’s effort in stoppage time going narrowly wide.
Faye Knox pulled a goal back for Wrexham deep into stoppage time, however City were able to hold on for the victory, which sent them to their fifth successive Welsh Cup final.
Next up for the Bluebirds is a return to league action with a trip to face Swansea City on Sunday 15th March, with a kick-off of 2pm.
FINAL SCORE: WREXHAM 1-2 CARDIFF CITY
Wrexham: Craven, Davies, Bartle, Wildgoose, Francis-Jones, Harvey (Fuller 70'), Smith, Knox, Barker, Hughes (Suckley 57'), Mahmood (L.Jones 58'). Subs Not Used: Ankers, Clark.
Cardiff City: Chamberlain, Perrott (Owen 73’), Jenkins, Bowen, Power, Cook, Thomas (Price 87’), Walklett, Barry (Lloyd 87’), Billingham (Long 87’), Curnock (Olden 66’).
REACTION | IAIN DARBYSHIRE
“I'm really proud of the performance.” Iain began. “As a squad, we reflected in the last week and the conversation we had with the players was really good. They took a lot of responsibility and ownership of the situation, but it shows how successful we've been for all these years that we did that after one loss! So huge credit goes to the players, they had to fight for everything during the game. They were so physical and aggressive, were really good in possession and we took our moments and could have even scored even more. Today was a performance of real desire and grit and I’m very proud of what I saw.
“We'll enjoy today because we had to work really hard for the win. To have lost against Wrexham on penalties and then lose in our home stadium, a lot of teams would fall apart, and you've seen the character and determination of the players. They really love this club, and you can see that.”