City Women travel to Aberystwyth Town for the final Phase One game of the Adran Premier campaign this Sunday.
The Bluebirds currently sit top of the table, impressing last time out with a 6-0 victory over Pontypridd United.
The fixture will take place on Sunday, February 1st, with a kick-off time of 5:10pm.
PRE MATCH | IAIN DARBYSHIRE
Iain Darbyshire gave his thoughts on Sunday’s fixture, and the sort of test his team can expect from Aberystwyth Town.
“It’ll be a difficult game. They’ve had some good performances recently,” Iain began. “Having watched a couple of their performances back I can see they’re an organised side and they will cause us problems at times. It’s up to us to make sure that we bring our A-game in the way we perform as we have been recently. If we do that, we should have a positive result."
City Women fielded a changed side against Pontypridd United, making eight changes. Darbyshire commented on rotation in the squad and what to expect in the coming weeks.
He said: “I was happy with the result against Pontypridd United. We spoke before the game about opportunities. As we move towards the end of Phase One and the start of Phase Two, the squad won’t rotate as much, it will be the players who are performing the best in training and in matches who will play. Everyone who played on Sunday performed well and I was happy with the team’s shape. On and off the ball it was exactly what we wanted to do, and it was a great overall performance.”
Darbyshire’s side currently sit top of the league, a point ahead of Wrexham.
“It's exactly where we want to be. There’s been patches of difficult moments throughout the season but there always is. We know from experience that going into Phase Two at the top of the table gives you an advantage. We’ll be hoping to get the three points on the weekend to make sure that we have that.
“Consistency is key and we know that one bad result can cost us the title. That’s the same for the other clubs involved in the race. It’s the stakes we’re dealing with and we’re aware of that. We need to make sure that we’re consistent and we perform, and we do the right things at the right time to give ourselves the best opportunity to bring home some silverware.”
PRE MATCH | SHANNON EVANS
Shannon Evans gave her thoughts ahead of facing Aberystwyth Town on Sunday.
“It should be a good game,” Shannon began. “We all know that Aberystwyth Town are on a good run now. They’re hard to break down so we know it won’t be an easy game. We just must keep doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully we can come out with the win.
"They stay in games. We know we have the fitness levels to perform for 90 minutes. Eventually we hope to break them down and any chances that come we must be clinical and continue to be persistent.”
Evans spoke about how the side manages games, with the Bluebirds still in every competition going into Phase Two.
“Every game is a pressure game now. In a sense, we’re not feeling the pressure and we’re not scared of going into games. We take each game as it comes and I know Wrexham are close on our tails, so we want to just keep winning as much as possible."
REVERSE FIXTURE
The two sides faced off in October last year, with the Bluebirds soaring to a 5-1 victory. Kerry Walklett got on the end of Mackenzie Olden’s cross to open the scoring in the sixth minute. It was a sign of things to come for City, as just minutes later Olden doubled the advantage with a low strike into the bottom corner.
Aberystwyth Town pulled one back through Lily-Moralee Hughes in the first half. Just before half-time, the two-goal cushion was restored, as Laura Curnock slotted home the third of the afternoon.
In the second half, City continued their dominance. Olden was adjudged to have been brought down in the box, and Curnock slotted home her second of the afternoon with a well taken penalty.
Olden grabbed her second of the afternoon soon after, with a composed finish past Steele. Scarlett Baker-Perry secured the fifth of the afternoon, turning home from close range to cap off a comprehensive performance.
REACHING THE GROUND
Supporters planning on attending on Sunday should use the following address:
ATFC Ltd, Park Avenue, Aberystwyth, SY23 1PG.
The ground is located a seven-minute walk away from Aberystwyth Train Station.