Briton Ferry Llansawel will have to put aside the heartache of last week as they prepare to face Cardiff City in the Welsh Cup Final. A week after missing out on promotion to the Adran Premier the Reds head to Merthyr's Penydarren Park to face Adran Premier champions Cardiff City.
This will be the Reds first ever appearance in the Welsh Cup final after previously losing in the semi's in 2019 to Cardiff Met. Then Bluebirds are chasing their third Welsh Cup and are the current holders after their 2-0 win over Cardiff Met last season.
Route To the Final
Ferry began their march to the final with a 16-0 win over Merthyr Town. Mollie Jones netting five times and Megan Kearle getting a hat trick along with four assists. Next up was Llanelli Town who the Reds beat 9-1 at Old Road. Jess Denscombe hit four goals and Lowri Baker getting a hat trick. In the quarter final the Reds travelled to Cardiff to face Cardiff Wanderers where they won 5-1. That set up a semi final with Aberystwyth Town played at Richmond Park, Carmarthen. Goals from Lowri Baker, Lowri Ridings and Fleur Jenkins saw the Reds run 3-0 winners.
Cardiff City began with a 5-0 win over Cascade before a 5-0 win over Pontypridd United. In their quarter final they beat Abergavenny 6-0 with goals from Hollie Smith, Lily Billingham, Megan Saunders, Evie Hughes, Lisa Owen and a Phoebie Poole penalty. Their semi saw them take on City rivals Cardiff Met where two goals from Rhianne Oakley saw the Bluebirds win 2-0.
League Campaigns
Both clubs have enjoyed successful season's in their respective leagues. Briton Ferry were crowned Adran South Champions while Cardiff won the Adran Premier.
The Reds lost just won game as they picked up the Adran South title, but they were unable to gain promotion after a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in the Adran Leagues play-off.
Not only did Cardiff win the Adran Premier title they did it without losing a single game. The Bluebirds winning 17 games and drawing just three. Cardiff's only defeat of the season came in the Adran Trophy final where they lost 2-0 to Cardiff Met.
Previous Meetings
The sides met this season in the Adran Trophy knock out round with the Bluebirds winning 3-1 at Old Road.
After a goalless first half Cardiff made some changes at the break and took the lead though Phoebie Poole in the 56th minute. Megan Bowen added a second on the hour mark before Zoe Atkins added a third with five to play. Lowri Ridings did a goal back in added time but it was Cardiff who took the win.
History is on the side of the Bluebirds with City winning the last five meetings between the sides. The last Welsh Cup meeting saw Cardiff win 6-1 in 2019.
Managers Thoughts
Rhys James
After the disappointment of last weekend the Briton Ferry manager told S4C,
"The girls were obviously gutted, but now we have got to turn our attention to Sunday with a massive test for us.
"You could say that Cardiff are the best team in Wales at the moment their form has been excellent.
"They deserve what they've got this year, but we can't just roll over and take that. We have got to make sure that we're competitive in the game and I fully believe we will be.
Iain Derbyshire
Cardiff Manager Iain Derbyshire told cardiffcityfc.co.uk,
“The girls are really focused and we’ve tried really hard, because we won the league three weeks in advance, to keep ourselves motivated and keep the standards high.
"I think we’ve done a really good job of that. We’ve had some fantastic results and we’ll be trying to do that again on Sunday.
“I know a couple of the Briton Ferry staff members really well and we’ve played against them in the past; we played against them this year in the Adran Trophy.
"I was there last week and I thought they represented the Adran South really well. They were really unlucky not to come away with a win.
"On another day they could have done it, so they should be really proud of themselves. We’re not coming into this thinking we can take our foot off the gas."
The match will take place at Merthyr Town's Penydarren Park on Sunday 23rd April with kick off at 12:45.
Featured Image: Mike Greenslade
Comments