The Ladies team were looking to make Club history this weekend, by reaching the Third Round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup for the very first time. Could they follow in the footsteps of the men’s team and secure a place in the third round draw? Find out in our latest weekly update.
Onto the Third round of the Women’s FA Cup!
There was a strong North-East accent to this weekend’s Senior fixtures. The first-team were way at Consett AFC Ladies in the Second Round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup, whilst the Reserves were playing Newcastle United away in an early kick-off, to accommodate their first -team’s game at St James’ Park.
The team have made manager Steve O’Hara sweat in their previous two FA Cup games by going behind to lower league opposition at home – was history going to repeat itself again?
The match started well for County, resplendent in their new, blue kit, dominant in possession and playing fluent football. It wasn’t long before last round’s hat-trick hero, Maria Figueiredo, added to her FA Cup tally with the opening goal after a lofted pass over the Consett defence from Jess Rawstron putting her through on goal.
The second goal came nine minutes later from Levi Rathburn, a sublime finish into the far top corner from a tight angle. Kenzie Bentley then got in on the act with two goals in four minutes, both assists coming from the in-form Figueiredo.
Consett rallied towards the end of the half, firing just over the bar and then hitting it! They were rewarded with a goal on 42 minutes when their striker got to a high ball ahead of Faye Bowness. HT 1-4.
County protected their lead well in the second half, with Bowness rarely called into action. The light was beginning to fade when Rawstron played another long pass over the defence, Harriet Houghton collected on the edge of the area and made no mistake with the finish. There was still time left for Figueiredo to double her tally with a goal on 79 minutes – her sixth goal in just three FA Cup matches this season! FT 1-6.
Steve O’Hara sums up the day:
“A long trip to the northeast was the order of the day, but more than that, it a real chance of progressing in the Cup against the lowest ranked team left in the competition. That also comes with some trepidation, not wanting to come unstuck and be the story of the round!
“We’ve come a long way as a group over the season and we put on a very professional performance, controlling the game from the very first minute with possession and it was only a matter of time until we got the breakthrough. The most pleasing thing was the quality of goals.
“As a manager you’re never 100% satisfied with the team’s performance, and there were some aspects where we could have been better, but I don’t want to take away from what the girls have achieved – making the Third Round Proper for the first time in the Club’s history, for which I’m incredibly proud of them.
“We now look forward to playing Coventry United of the Barclays Women’s Championship in a couple of weeks time, a challenge we are all looking forward to.”
Elsewhere…
The first-team’s result was matched by the Reserves in their first game under new Manager, Dan Dewar, as they beat Newcastle United Reserves 4-5 in an absolute thriller – having set off from Stockport at 7.30am for the 12pm kick-off!
This is particularly pleasing as it is their first win of the season, in what was arguably their toughest fixture! The Team will now be looking to press on in the coming weeks and rediscover the form that gave them the FAWNL Reserve Plate Trophy last season.
The Development Team also won their game at home to Runcorn Sports, completing a clean sweep of wins for all eight Stockport County Ladies teams this weekend, an unprecedented achievement, and a credit to all players, coaches, and managers.
