City Women face Cardiff Metropolitan University at Cyncoed Campus on Sunday afternoon (02/04), 2pm KO.
The Bluebirds head into the fixture after securing the Adran Premier title with a 3-1 victory over The New Saints last week.
After Ffion Price’s opener was cancelled out, captain Siobhan Walsh’s crucial brace saw City secure top spot in Wales’ top-flight.
In their most recent fixture, the Archers fell to a 3-0 defeat to Swansea City Ladies, which saw them remain third in the table.
In the league meetings between the two sides this season, the Bluebirds have claimed 3-1, 5-0 and 9-0 victories.
However, there has been a victory apiece in cup competitions, with City recording a 2-0 win in the FAW Women’s Cup semi-final. In the Adran Trophy final, the Archers secured a 3-1 win at the SDM Glass Stadium.
“We have to maintain our level, because we’ve got the cup final at the end of the season,” head coach Iain Darbyshire stated. “We’ve still got a couple of goals that we’d like to accomplish, starting with this weekend.
“We take a lot of confidence from our abilities and what we’ve been doing on a weekly basis this season, but we’ll be wary of the threat that Cardiff Met have. We’ll be focused, prepared and hopefully, that brings us a positive result on the weekend.
“We’ve had some great training sessions this week and we’re fully focused. The players want to prove themselves and make sure they’re in the squad for the last few games of the season, so there’s been a lot of focus in the girls and we’ve prepared really well.
“We want to be going into our final against Briton Ferry full of confidence. We want to be physically prepared for the game because we know it’s going to be tough. We’ve done this week-in, week-out all season, so the girls know what they’re doing, we’re keeping them motivated and they’ll be ready to go.”
Attacker Rhianne Oakley has put in some fantastic performances against Sunday’s opponents, netting seven goals in all competitions against Met this season.
Ahead of this weekend’s clash, Rhianne added: “One of our targets we set at the start of the season was to go unbeaten in the league and that would be a massive achievement. We’ve been outstanding as a team this season, but especially our defence and Ceryn [Chamberlain]; they have been unstoppable.
“It’s important for us not to get ahead of ourselves and take our foot off the gas. We need to ensure we perform how we’ve performed all season and focus on coming away with six points from these last two league games. We take lots of confidence from our last visit to Cardiff Met.
“Conditions were tough that night, but we really showed desire and belief in one another and played some of the best football we’ve played all season. Of course, every game away from home is a challenge and we know Met can be a real threat, so we just need to ensure we turn up and play our football.”
The Bluebirds have two league fixtures remaining, before facing Briton Ferry Llansawel in the FAW Women’s Cup final. Rhianne concluded by highlighting the importance of going into the final with momentum, stating: “These next two games are just as important as our previous games. We want to maintain this run in the league and gain momentum and confidence going into the cup game.
“Confidence is a big factor in success and failure, so it’s key that we turn up with high levels of confidence. We’ve had some great results in the past few weeks and we’ve gained lots of confidence from them, so it’s essential we carry this through the next two games and the cup final.”
