AFC Bournemouth take on Cheltenham in what could be the biggest game in the club's history

In what can only be described as the biggest game in AFC Bournemouth Women’s history, they take on Cheltenham Town in a top of the table clash.

AFC Bournemouth after their win against Bournemouth Sport - Photo by: Zach Sampson

The Cherries will be travelling up to Corinum Stadium with the hopes of going five points clear, with just three games to go.

After a formidable 6-1 win at home to Maidenhead, that saw them go top of the league, the Boscombe side are full of confidence. Abby Jones, who scored a brace and assisted one, spoke about the stark difference to their two performances – having played them back-to-back.

“We approached the game slightly differently. We tweaked the formation to make it more attacking and I think it really helped us because we were able to exploit things like their wide areas.

“We were able to slip players through, play balls over the top and even play into feet where they could drive towards the defenders. I think everyone’s work ethic improved from the last week which gave us the good result.”

The last time these two played each other, the game ended 0-0 with neither team being able to break the deadlock. Bournemouth boss – Steve Cuss – was proud of his side’s progression since that game back in October.

“Having never been in this league before, every week seems to be a new challenge. It’s a credit to the players that we’re in the position that we are they’ve adapted to those challenges.

“I think where we are, with just a few games to go and the importance of the games becomes more relevant as you get towards the end of the season. That’s something we’ve talked about just treating this game as a singular game and try to perform and win it.”

Cheltenham haven’t played a league game since they beat Maidenhead 4-1 on January 30th. However, their last game came in FA Women’s National League Plate semi-final where they lost 3-0 to National League North opposition Nottingham Forrest.

Abby Jones and Jade Bradley in training - Photo by: Zach Sampson

On Tuesday, the women’s team was surprised by Bournemouth’s men’s team warming up with their names and numbers on the back to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Cuss commended them saying: “It was an absolutely fantastic gesture from Scott Parker, the players and the whole club. For them to do that in what was a big game for them, we can’t thank them enough for giving us that promotion. We’re getting huge support from the club in promoting the game on the pitch.”

Winter signing Jade Bradley also spoke about the recognition she got from players across the footballing pyramid and how it can boost the profile of the women’s side.

“In terms of exposure, it’s always massive when a men’s team can back it in the way Bournemouth can. I got a lot of messages from girls playing in the Super League, Championship and even tier 3. A lot of them said “This is amazing, I hope my club can do something like this””.

It was announced on Friday that Bournemouth would play against Portsmouth in the Hampshire FA Cup Final after Southampton, who they lost to in the semis, pulled out due to fixture congestion and their request for postponement was denied.

Whilst Bradley was delighted with the prospect of playing in a cup final, she was keen to make it clear that the competition came second to the possibility of promotion: “If I’m honest with you our focus really is the league. Its lovely and a big achievement for the club to be in the cup final but ultimately the league will be the priority.”

Bradley spent four years at Portsmouth, before joining Bournemouth in January, having been named vice-captain at the start of the 2019/20 season, and was then named club captain from August 2020. She scored 12 times in 68 games and has assisted four times in 10 games this season.

The midfielder was keen to highlight the club’s progression since they lost Pompey at the end of last year: “We did lose 2-1 but in terms of performance, we did show a lot of grit and progression

“As a team collective I think we’ve progressed our understanding tactically, technically and even physically that the standards never dropped. Whilst I’ve been at the club, if the standards have slipped even slightly, we’ll be told about it from a teammate or from staff which is good. If you want to go in the right direction and win games, in this case the cup final, you have to keep the standards and I’m very proud of this team for being able to do that.”

With glory firmly in the palm of Bournemouth’s hands, anything can happen. Every upcoming game is as important as a cup final; at this stage of the season, it really is all or nothing.