Vitality Women’s FA Cup: “a strong league campaign will determine how successful the season will be” says Maidenhead United boss after cup defeat

FA Women’s National League Plate match between Maidenhead United and QPR at York Road. Photo Darren Woolley
FA Women’s National League Plate match between Maidenhead United and QPR at York Road. Photo Darren Woolley

Football in Berkshire caught up with Maidenhead United manager, Ryan Taylor, after their 3-0 defeat to fellow league side Chesham United in the Vitality FA Cup, Third Round Qualifying.

“Overall, it was a good effort by the team, and a better performance than in previous weeks. But ultimately, we just made several small errors, which Chesham were able to capitalise from.”

Key players

“Our captain Amy Saunders covered a lot of ground and won a lot of balls for us in the centre of midfield on Sunday, and our centre backs Gemma Bloor & Karjal Malhorta were both very solid competing against a very strong & quick front three.”

Maidenhead United captain Amy Saunders in action. Photo by Darren Woolley
Maidenhead United captain Amy Saunders in action. Photo by Darren Woolley

Given the game ended in the defeat for the Magpies, there was room for improvement says Ryan, “We need to be more clinical in front of goal, we had possession in the attacking third for a good percentage of the game, however that final delivery was not quite there. So, it’s all about creating more clear-cut chances in and around the box and capitalising on those opportunities.”

Women’s National League

Whilst a cup run would’ve been nice, for Taylor and his squad, the league is the main focus, “It’s always been about the league; it would have been a nice distraction to have a cup run. But having a strong league campaign will determine how successful the season will be.”

Their sole focus will be on how the team perform in Division One South West going forward, “We have made a good to start in the league and now have several games in hand on the top four teams. If we can get the results we desire in our next few league matches, then we will be right in the mix of things with the clubs towards the top of the league.”

Maidenhead are finding cup competitions to be their nemesis this season as they were knocked out of the league cup against and subsequently suffered defeat at the hands of QPR in the Plate Cup too. They are next in action in the league when they play Swindon Town Women on Sunday 7th November.

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