Brentford Women’s First Team come up against AFC Acorns in the Second Round of the Women’s League Cup at Bedfont Sports Club on Sunday in a 3pm kick-off.
A late debut goal from Orla McComb sealed all three points last weekend in the London South East Regional Women’s Football League Division One North, maintaining the First Team’s winning record at home this season. Despite the positive result, Manager Karleigh Osborne is looking for a better performance from his side.
Speaking on Sunday’s game, Osborne said: “I definitely want to see more from the girls, we need to perform better, even though we got the win last weekend on another day it could have gone the other way.”
The Bees got their goal on 87 minutes last Sunday and although Osborne wasn’t massively pleased by what he saw he appreciated his player’s hard work.
“The team always work hard for me and it’s great to see as manager, sometimes it gets us out of tricky situations but if we want to go far in the League Cup, we need to show more quality.”
The First Team prepare to take on an AFC Acorns side who ply their trade in the division above but after going unbeaten in their last four, the Bees carry some momentum into the fixture.
Osborne continued: “We know it will be a tough game, but we are at home, and we always seem to grind out results at Bedfont. We want to be as successful as possible so a win on Sunday will be a huge step in the right direction.
“The feeling in the dressing room is great at the moment and I believe the girls are eager to not only succeed in the league but also to go as far as they can in this cup.”
Vice Captain, Sophie Troth, explained how excited she and her teammates are at the prospect of winning a cup competition.
She said: “We have a long way to go so we must remain focused on the task at hand and that’s beating AFC Acorns on Sunday, but the thought of winning a cup for this Club is so exciting so me and the rest of the girls will be doing everything we can to do this."
Our B Team will look to bounce back from their unfortunate defeat to league leaders Leyton Orient last weekend, as they take on Forest Crusaders Women at Bedfont Sports Club (grass pitches) on Sunday in a 2pm kick-off.
Despite being ahead twice in last weekend’s top-of-the-table clash the B Team left Whitbread Sports Ground empty-handed but Assistant Manager Charlotte Tanner remains in high spirits ahead of Sunday’s game.
Tanner said: “The girls played well for 80 minutes last weekend, so the result was frustrating for us all. On a positive note, we have worked hard this week in training so we feel confident that we can put on a better performance against Forest Crusaders and get back to winning ways.
“It won’t be an easy challenge, though, they (Forest Crusaders) are sitting two places below us with two games in hand and will be looking to close this gap so we must be at the top of our game.”
B Team midfielder Karen Abou-Abdallah explained how important it is for the girls to get back on track on Sunday.
“We are really determined to get the three points this weekend as the Leyton Orient defeat was tough on us all. The way we have been training and playing this season I have no doubt that we have the ability to beat anyone on our day, so for us, it’s just about playing each game like it’s a cup final.”