This weekend, Cheltenham Town Ladies have the chance to go where no Robinesses team have been before. The Fourth Round of the Women’s FA Cup. They face Reading of the Women’s Championship at Kayte Lane on Sunday.
The Royals got to the Quarter-finals last season, eventually eliminated by Emma Hayes’ Chelsea, who’ve won the last three finals. Reading currently sit 10th in the Championship and are winless in their last six games.
Robinesses manager Tom Davies was under no illusions of the task ahead, stating: “We have loads of respect for them. They’ve got some brilliant individual players, as you’d expect from a team in the Championship.
“I’ve faced Liam (Gilbert) many times, particularly at Oxford, where he did a great job. We’ll go out there with no fear, no pressure on us. The pressure will be firmly on them, which is a nice feeling,” Davies said.
The Robinesses are currently unbeaten in their last five games, with wins over Billericay, Cardiff, Exeter and last time out against promotion-chasing Hashtag United. Una Lue got the only goal in the 73rd minute, inflicting The Tags with only their second league defeat of the campaign.
“It was a much more Cheltenham performance. Out of possession, we were fantastic, and also the way we pressed in high areas and transitional moments. In possession, we know we need to work on being more comfortable.
“Overall, a positive performance, away from home, and more importantly, it gives us confidence going into the week ahead,” Davies stated.
The unbeaten run has seen two impressive cup performances, a 3-0 win away at Cardiff that saw a stunner from Welsh international legend Tash Harding, and a last-gasp finish in Round Two, which saw the Robinesses come from 1-0 down to eventually win 3-2 after a crazy last 15 minutes at Kayte Lane.
This weekend could prove to be history-making in Bishops Cleeve, as firstly, we could see a record-breaking Robinesses attendance, which could eclipse their game at the Completely Suzuki Stadium back in March, where 406 people saw a 1-0 defeat to London Bees.
It would also mark the Robinesses’ first foray into Round Four, having reached Round Three in 2008/09 and 2020/21.
“There are loads of things you can draw from it, if it be from a financial standpoint or the first time facing and potentially beating a championship side.
“The players may have the quality to do it. We’ll do it as, and when it happens, it’ll happen to teams in Tier 3/4. Hopefully, we’re one of those!”, Davies concluded.
The game kicks off at 2 pm at Kayte Lane on Sunday December 10.
