Cardiff City FC Women play their third fixture of pre-season, travelling to face Portsmouth Women at Draper Tools Community Stadium on Sunday (14/08), 2pm KO.
The Bluebirds head into this weekend on the back of an impressive 6-0 win over Keynsham Town, in which Iain Darbyshire’s side put in a fantastic performance.
Megan Saunders netted a superb first-half hattrick, with Zoe Atkins scoring a brace and Rhianne Oakley finding the net.
HIGHLIGHTS | Keynsham Town 0-6 Cardiff City
Opponents Portsmouth Women compete in the FA Women’s National League South, finishing seventh out of 14 sides last season.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game,” Iain began. “We’re excited for the chance to go down to Portsmouth as a group. It’s a great chance for us to bond, spend some time as a squad and hopefully get a positive result on Sunday.
“We always like to have one overnight stay in pre-season, just to get everyone together. We’re looking forward to the whole weekend as a whole. We know they’re going to have a good setup, so we’re relishing the opportunity and the challenge.”
Defender Summer Bowen-Quirk, who mostly played for the U19s last season, has featured for the first-team so far in pre-season. The exciting talent expressed she is relishing this weekend’s challenge.
“It’s a great experience for me,” she said. “I feel so involved in the squad, it’s such a nice place to be, especially because it’s such fast-paced football, it’s nice to have the girls’ backing when you’re trying to adapt to that.
“It’ll be nice to see the difference between ourselves and Portsmouth. Each team is a different challenge and a different game to adapt to, so it’s great for me as a young player to learn from that.”
Fellow U19s talent Michaela Major has also been a part of the first-team in pre-season, but feels she has adapted well.
She said: “It’s great for me to be playing for the first-team. Playing for the U19s, it’s a big step up, so playing on Sunday against good opposition is going to be positive for me.
“Pre-season’s been great so far. When you first come back, it’s tough, especially with the weather and training in this heat. Training’s been really intense and we’re really being pushed, so hopefully that will help us going into the new season.”
