Adran Trophy Final Preview | Cardiff Met vs. Cardiff City
City Women compete in the Adran Trophy Final against Cardiff Metropolitan University on Sunday (12/03), 2pm KO.
The fixture will take place at Penybont’s SDM Glass Stadium (CF31 4JU).
Iain Darbyshire’s side head into this weekend’s fixture in fine form, having been unbeaten in all competitions so far this campaign.
The Bluebirds started the Adran Trophy campaign with a 3-1 victory over Briton Ferry Llansawel, before an impressive performance in a 10-0 victory over Llandudno Ladies.
In the semi-final against The New Saints, City showed character to come from behind, with Manon Pearce, Siobhan Walsh and Phoebie Poole’s goals sending the Bluebirds into the Final.
Opponents Cardiff Metropolitan University have progressed through the competition with wins over Rhyl and Connah’s Quay Nomads, before facing Aberystwyth Town in the semi-final.
The Archers claimed a 3-1 victory, with Ellie Preece, Tija Richardson and Emily Allen on the scoresheet.
“We’re very excited because it’s the first trophy available this season,” Darbyshire explained. “We set our targets at the start of the season; we wanted to win every piece of silverware, and this is the first opportunity to do so. We’re excited for the game, but we’re focused on the task at hand.
“We felt like we played well in the Final against them last season, but we didn’t come away with the result. That was a bit of a catalyst for us and it kick-started a bit of a mentality change.
"Thankfully, since then, we haven’t lost a game. This is what we want, we want to be challenging for silverware. Cardiff Met will pose a challenge, but we’re prepared for it.
“We’ll take confidence from our results against them this season, perhaps a psychological edge, but we know it’s a cup final and anything can happen on the day.
"We’ll have to perform at the very top of our game to come away with the silverware and that’s what we’ll aim to do.”
Wing-back Danielle Green, who has had a stellar season for the Bluebirds, added: “League games and cup finals are always completely different, it’s a different atmosphere when you’re playing the game.
"Anything can happen, but if we just focus on the gameplan that we have and trust the strength we have in the squad, we can get the win."
Commenting on returning to the SDM Glass Stadium, where City claimed the FAW Women’s Cup trophy last season, she stated: “Playing at that ground and winning the final last season was the highlight of our season.
"We’ve built from that and we don’t want to lose that feeling. We’ve been on a high ever since that final and hopefully, this weekend can be one of many more trophies.”
