Cardiff Metropolitan University winger Amy Long has acknowledged the importance of their season-opener against Swansea City in the context of the Adran Premier title-race.
The Archers narrowly missed out on top spot last season, finishing just a point behind the title-winning Swans.
Both Cardiff Met and Swansea City were near faultless last campaign, with the Swans going the whole year unbeaten, while Met lost just one game.
With another enthralling title-race starting this weekend, Long has expressed the paramount importance of their clash with the Swans.
“I think it would be silly not to acknowledge how big of a game it is.
“Every time the fixtures come out, it’s always the first game that you look for.
“Obviously, we play them twice in a season, so there’s a lot of pressure on us to get a result.
“If it doesn’t go to plan, we know that we play them again, but it’s a massive scalp if we can beat them.
“It tends to then give you the upper hand in the title-race rather than being the team chasing.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get ahead early in the season and that gives you the confidence to then push on because you know it’s in your hands.”
The two clashes between Cardiff Metropolitan University and Swansea City were hotly-contested last season.
In the fixture at Llandarcy, Swansea edged the Archers in a 1-0 victory, with Chloe Chivers’ long-range strike the crucial difference.
At Cyncoed Campus, Chivers missed a penalty in a goalless draw. Swansea’s avoidance of defeat was a huge step towards the title.
Ahead of this weekend’s clash, Long expressed the results against the Swans last season were frustrating.
“Every time we play against Swansea, it’s always a close game. It’s always decided by one goal and it can swing either way.
“We know how big the games are because the two games tend to decide the title, so us losing away to Swansea ended up being vital for them and they went on to win the league.
“Away at Swansea, we scored and it got ruled out for offside and it was a bit of a dubious decision, so it’s fine margins.
“When we played them at Cyncoed, they missed a penalty, we had a few chances that we could have scored from, but it just goes down to what happens on the day.”
Last season’s title-race went down to the final day of the season, with Swansea City securing top spot with a goalless draw against Abergavenny.
Long revealed that the contest going down to the wire made it all the more disappointing when Cardiff Met missed out, but insisted that the Archers are determined to make amends this campaign.
“Our aim every season is to win the league, so when we don’t do that, it comes with disappointment.
“Even though we had a really good season, not winning the league was disappointing.
“It would mean a lot to us all because to go two seasons without winning the league, it’s not been good enough for us.
“With the players we have, we know we’re more than capable and we know that we should be winning the title.
“I think all the girls really want to win the league this year. We’ve spoken about that and we really want to get back into the Champions League.”
Cardiff Met dropped just seven points last season, recording 13 points, two draws and one loss from their 16 games.
The Archers were pegged back by capital city rivals Cardiff City Women in a 2-2 draw at Leckwith Stadium in what proved to be a significant result.
Despite failing to win just three times last season, Long expressed that the competition in Wales’ top-flight league is getting stronger.
“In the past, it has just come down to our games with Swansea, but the league has got more competitive now so there is the potential to drop points against other teams.
“Although it was disappointing to lose out on the title on the final day of the season, it just shows how competitive the league is and how much better other teams are getting. In terms of the league as a whole, that is a huge positive.”
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