Bournemouth Women take on Maidenhead in the second ever BU Big Match at Vitality Stadium

Steve Cuss’ Bournemouth Women’s side take on Maidenhead United in what will be the club’s second ever game at the 11,000-seater Vitality Stadium.

Steve Cuss speaking at the BU Big Match press conference | Photo by: Nathaniel Hobby

The last time these two teams faced each other was back in January with the Cherries winning 3-2 thanks to a brace from Molly Clark, and a winner from Beth Everson.

However, Cuss was keen to point out that beside the difference in the team’s places in the league, it won’t be an easy game: “Maidenhead had a few problems at the start of the season and found themselves without a manager and had their season delayed slightly.

“The squad they've assembled now with the manager they’re performing very well and showed that [last Sunday] with another positive result that they got.”

The team has had quite the overhaul from last season with the likes of Becki Bath, Jade Bradley and Betty Barron all leaving the Boscombe side however, in their absence academy prospects like Holly Humphries and Jess Treweek have seen significantly more minutes whilst the like of Beth Everson and Amber Treweek have been signed from different clubs.

Holly Humphries has broken records for the Cherries this season, becoming the first player to work their way from the u10s all the way to the first team. To top things off, she scored her first goal in Bournemouth’s 5-1 win in the FA Cup over Forrest Green Rovers.

Humphries, who is originally from London, was gleaming with pride when speaking about her first goal, saying: “You watch the FA Cup on Tv and to say that you’ve scored in it is really exciting”.

Holly Humphries, who was a ball girl in last year's BU Big Match, speaking before the game | Photo by: Nathaniel Hobby

The Cherries boss explained that having a younger side can be a double-edged sword, saying: “Obviously, you do miss out on a little bit of experience that we had in the side last year with the players that are no longer with us. I think that's probably where the coaching staff and one or two experienced players that are left play a bigger part.

“We're a very, very young side with a number of teenagers but I think what you get with younger players is there's no fear. All I'm seeing at the moment is the excitement of wanting to come and play at the stadium and put on a good performance.”

In the last 12 months, the publicity for women’s football has continued to skyrocket with ticket sales for the BU Big Game expected to drastically outperform last year. Steve Cuss praised the country’s best for this, saying: “We had the summer where the Lionesses winning the Euros put the women's game even more in the spotlight and really shone a light on English football and the women's pathway, which was fantastic.

“We're seeing as the growth in the women's game continues, the crowds are getting bigger. We're seeing live football on TV and more limelight on the players, which I think is really important. As AFC Bournemouth, we're fully involved and understand that we have a responsibility to keep on growing our opportunities for female players and that's what we're trying to do across the whole structure.”

With two games to go in the domestic season and a Hampshire FA Cup Final ahead, AFC Bournemouth Women’s second BU Big Match shows that there is so much more yet to come.