Cardiff Met take on Cardiff City in the semi-final of the FAW Cup at Penydarren Park in Merthyr on Sunday afternoon.
These two booked their place in the final of the Adran Trophy last weekend, who will be involved in two cup finals this season?
Met have reached this stage by facing a variety of tests. They began with a 9-0 win away to Caerphilly Castle before facing fellow Adran Premier side Swansea City in the last 16, beating them on penalties. In the quarter finals they defeated Llandudno 5-1. Two goals from Emily Allen along with one each from Robyn Pinder, Elianna Chavez and Kennesha Nanette sent Yzzy Taylor’s side through.
The Bluebirds have reached the semi-final stage without conceding a goal in the tournament so far. After beating Cascade YC and Pontypridd United 5-0 in both the second round and round of 16 respectively, they defeated Abergavenny 6-0 win the quarters. Goals from Lisa Owen, Phoebie Poole, Elise Hughes, Meg Saunders, Hollie Smith, and Lily Billingham saw Iain Derbyshire’s side sail into the last four.
Looking at the league fixtures between the sides this season, it’s City who have the upper hand, having beaten the Archers 3-1 at home and 5-0 at Cyncoed. The Bluebirds will be missing some stars who are on international duty, so could this be an opportunity for Met to get their revenge?
Cardiff City manager Iain Darbyshire says: “We’re disappointed to be without our international players, but we have a very talented squad. We’re one of the only teams in the country who could still turn out a positive performance and we’re confident that we will do so. That’s our target.
“We’ve got some fantastic players. We’ve got a great squad. We believe in the players and they believe in themselves. This week has been positive, we’ve been focused on football.
“We’ve got plan A, B and C for the weekend and I fully believe we can get a positive result. That will highlight the strength in depth that we have and the winning mentality that we’ve been trying to build all season.”
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