Reaction | Bluebirds win Adran Trophy
The Bluebirds secured a second trophy of the season by winning the Adran Trophy for the first time in the Club’s history.
City came from behind to claim a brilliant 5-1 win over Swansea City, with Megan Bowen, Molly Kehoe and Rhianne Oakley on the scoresheet, along with a brace for Eliza Collie.
After the full-time whistle, head coach Iain Darbyshire said: “It feels fantastic. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve worked really hard this season to improve psychologically. When the chips are down, we knew we needed to show up and we did that today, especially in that second half, I thought we were unbelievable.
“We just spoke about intensity. That’s what was missing in that first half. We were losing second balls and we were just a yard off the pace, but I felt that we could dominate the second half if we fixed that and it gave us the platform to score goals.
“It all comes from the intensity from behind them. It was all about putting Swansea under pressure and we made opportunities from that.
“Last year, we took our eye off the ball in the final and you can see how much we’ve learned from that. We had a great opportunity to win three trophies last year and while it was a great achievement to win two, it hurt us that it wasn’t three. This year, we’ve got two secured and one more final to look forward to.”
A key moment came in the second half, when Kehoe pounced upon a loose ball in the area to fire the Bluebirds ahead.
The Cayman Islands international, who joined the Club at the start of the season, has popped up with some important moments in a successful campaign so far.
“It feels good to win the league and to get this trophy in my first season at Cardiff City,” Molly added.
“In the first half, we know we could have done better, but in the second half, we came out and showed how much we can play.
“Coming far away from home, it hasn’t been easy, but I’ve settled in well and I’m happy with my performances. I think next season could be even better from me.”
While it was the Bluebirds’ attacking players who shone in the second half, goalkeeper Ceryn Chamberlain has had another stellar campaign between the sticks.
After securing the Adran Trophy, she said: “It’s brilliant. I’m proud of the girls. Everyone put so much hard work in today, especially in the second half to come back. We’re just so happy to win.
“We came out and fought for the game. We were able to show a lot of determination to get the result that we needed.
“We needed that attacking threat in the second half. Our attacking players came up with the goals when we needed them, so we’re really pleased.”