Bournemouth to fight it out against Southampton in Hampshire FA Cup

Knock-out football brings treachery, excitement, and heartbreak. However, this is what makes us fall in love with football. The magic of cup competition is what teams in the lower tiers dream of.

The Hampshire FA Cup semi-final hosts Southampton FC Women against lower league opposition, AFC Bournemouth.

The Boscombe side’s January signing Jade Bradley was keen to point out that the whole team was up for the challenge when she said: “You want to challenge yourself against teams like that if you’ve got the ambition to go up to that league.”

This season, Bournemouth have consistently had the challenge of playing against high calibre opposition with them coming against the likes of Portsmouth and Hashtag United in various cup competitions.

Bradley was keen to point out that being the underdog wasn’t necessarily a bad thing when she said: “As a team who’s got younger players going in as the underdog is better in terms of pressure. As we build as a team, every game is a must-win regardless of whether you’re playing against a Super League team or a team in tier-seven, tier-eight. At the end of the day, you want to prove that you’re the best, or becoming the best. We’ll go into any game with the mentality to win.”

Steve Cuss, Bournemouth’s manager, also commented on the added pressure of a semi-final saying: “In the cup games, we tend to go into most games as the underdogs because we’re drawing the bigger sides. I suppose there’s less pressure in that, but I think the players thrive on that little bit of pressure and you’ve just got to embrace it.”

Bradley on her debut against Bournemouth Sports

Cuss was confident in his players ability to handle the pressure saying: “I’ve said to [the players] before, the pressure of being near the top of the league is something you’ve got to enjoy. We know we’re in for a tough one on Sunday and we’re going to do our best.”

Despite Southampton being in a higher league, Bradley was keen to make it known that her side was not intimidated by the opposition saying: “We know they’re a good team but if we turn up, we can cause an upset.”

The Cherries are currently sat in second place of the fourth division of English football, one below their opposition. However, they both share the best defensive record in the whole national league, conceding only three goals all season.

Expect fire and ferocity as this is not just a local derby but also the chance for a spot in the final and a shot at silverware.