Cheltenham Town Women’s manager Tom Davies praised Una Lue for her brace and overall performance in their win over Norwich City, which secured their ticket to the fourth round Women’s FA Cup for the first time.
With an overtime thriller victory of 2-1 over the Canaries, the Robinesses will be hosting Wolves Women on January 12th.
Davies talked about how all of the hard work has paid off for the young striker.
“Una’s got phenomenal amounts of physical ability, the way that she’s so athletic, both with the pace and ability to sort of win everything in the air and those kinds of things,” said Davies.
“It’s about bringing it together and tactically, she’s improving. Slowly, a lot of the outpossession stuff was stuff that we’ve had to work on and engage in different ways. She’s a product of hard work.”
The compliments did not stop there, as the manager applauded the work of the whole team.
“I thought Henna [Butcher] and Pembo [Ella Pemberton] were phenomenal. The distance they covered, the amount of regains and for both of those goals, they created the opportunity that I think for her [Lue], she had to be on the end of them. She has to finish them and put them away and she’ll get the credit for that.
“But you know, there’s 10 other players on that pitch and a couple that came on that deserve the same credit that she’s getting. Just pleased for everybody that’s part of the group that contributed to that day and the run that they put in.” Mentioned Davies.
Davies factored in all of the circumstances that went into the win, but was largely pleased with the performance of his team.
“It was like watching an old us again. I thought we were everywhere and all over the pitch. I thought we won the first and second battles, pretty much on every occasion. And when we didn’t, you know, we were just, we’re on the next phase, the next ball. We conceded little chances as well, which is always pleasing.
“I know that the bar, the post, but both were sort of on range when I think it was a deflection last minute. So yeah, really pleased in terms of the out-possession stuff. In possession, it was difficult. It was difficult to play through at times. So we had to rely on playing around and over. But look, we created some good opportunities.” Davies said.
HISTORY MADE.@CTWomenFC‘s 2-1 victory over Norwich City seals their place in the #AdobeWomensFACup fourth round for the first time in the club’s history! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/kchYOUlTK0
— Adobe Women’s FA Cup (@AdobeWFACup) December 8, 2024
Cheltenham will face Milton Keynes Dons as part of the National League Southern Premier this Sunday.
The Dons are sitting last on the table, with no wins so far in the season, but they are coming in with three weeks of rest and a new manager.
“We know that that can have an effect, whether that’s positive or negative, you know, sharpness maybe isn’t there, but they’ve been able to work hard in training. So there’s going to be different things they bring. We’re just focusing on ourselves that we always, always do and always will continue to do.” Mentioned the team manager.
This will be the Robinesses last game of the season, and will be back on January 5th to face AFC Wimbledon before their next FA Cup game.
