For the sixth time this season, Cardiff Met will face off against Cardiff City. This time however, the prize is bigger than before.
Both will meet in the final of the FAW Welsh Women’s Cup in Penybont, a competition that has not been played for two years.
Cardiff Met, however, are the reigning champions, and their captain Steph Turner knows how much retaining the trophy will mean for her side.
‘It’s massive, it’s a big cup, it’s not been around for two years because of COVID, and everyone loves a cup run’
‘Both teams have had difficult cup runs to get to where they are and with what both teams have done this season, both teams will believe they deserve it’
‘I think we deserve another cup and I think Cardiff City with their performances and what they’ve done this year that they deserve it and I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining match.’
The Archers lost out on the Adran Premier title after a draw against the Bluebirds at the Cardiff City Stadium. But Turner believes her side won’t be too disheartened on losing out on the title, while also hailing the new competition.
‘We kinda got given one more chance, we kept going but we knew it was out of our hands for a very long time’
‘With the games we had remaining … it was a big ask … we are disappointed but we’re not going to hold on to that’
‘When it came out, I liked the look of it, it looked quite competitive … the second part of the season is tough because you’re playing the strongest sides in the league, so every week there’s going to be a really difficult game’
‘When you’re still playing in both cup competitions, you’re playing more difficult teams. So, we are playing the same teams a lot, but it is more competitive’
One thing that has been striking about Met this season is the team spirit and togetherness, something that Turner was quick to praise.
‘I’ve been at Cardiff Met for ten years and it’s always been like that, we’ve always had a tight unit. We do spend a lot of time together and I speak to most of the girls daily. They’re not just your teammates they’re your friends, and that’s always been the case with Cardiff Met’
‘When we have new people joining, they never take too long to settle in, we’ve had Laura-May Walkley and Jessie Taylor, and you’d swear they’d been at the club for years and years the way they get on with people’
This is Archers manager Izzy Taylor’s first full season as head coach of this exciting team, and her captain believes that she has been a key factor in why Met have done well this season.
‘Izzy’s been a coach for a number of years, she was goalkeeping coach and an assistant, then obviously this year has stepped up to head coach’
‘She brings out something different, kinda takes us to the next level. Her training sessions are just outstanding in the way she delivers them, and everything she does is outstanding’
‘Everyone respects her so much and what she’s said has worked this year. In her first season she’s got us to two cup finals and finished second in the league so it’s not bad for her.’
Turner has been involved with Met for ten years and has seen how the game has grown, and she’s proud to be the leader of the group.
‘It means a lot; I’ve been here years and years. When I first joined, the women’s league was kinda a pub team, this was ten years ago. We would turn up and have no idea who we were playing. We won the league one year and we didn’t even know about it, that’s how little everyone cared’
‘When the Welsh Premier League came in, that’s when Kerry Harris became head coach and changed how the club was run, with the Champions League, we had to change it, and that didn’t take long, we changed it within a summer. We went for it, and ever since then it’s grown and grown. Every year keeps getting better and it gets more professional.’
When asked if she was tired of playing Cardiff City so many times this season, Turner chuckled before giving her response.
‘I feel like we play against them every week at the minute! We have played against them a lot recently, I feel like we both know each other inside out, thankfully it’s the last one for a while on Sunday.’
If you look at the head-to-head record this season between both teams, there’s no wonder that Met are confident of victory on Sunday, but their last encounter ended in a draw, and Turner is keen to learn and improve on their last performance against their cross-city rivals.
‘We looked at our performance in the Cardiff City Stadium and the goals we gave away we’re not good enough from us as a team’
‘They took advantage off our defensive errors, and we didn’t do that in the last cup final and I think we were pretty strong, and they just took advantage of our errors … but we know what we need to do on Sunday’
‘It’s probably given them a bit of confidence against us for the first team, but if you look at the season and the other four matches, and we’ve beaten them comfortably in some of them’
‘But they are a good team, and they’re going to have the same motivation as us, that it’s the final 90 minutes and there’s a trophy at the end of it.’
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