Football in Berkshire caught up with Ascot United manager, Darrel Evans, after their 4-0 victory over Oxford City Women in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup, Third Round Qualifying.
Overall performance
Praises for Oxford, but ultimately Ascot were the ones in control of the game, Darrel felt, as they secured a comfortable victory at the Racecourse, “We are very happy with the all round performance from the squad, and feel as though every player was able to have a positive influence on the game! Though I won’t take anything away from Oxford as they played their part in what was a very good match, they had their moments and created some good chances calling safe hands Lisa into action a few times. That said, I felt we were in control of the game both with and without the ball, demonstrating composure under pressure and playing to our game plan.”
Player highlights
The squad put on a real team display making it a tough choice for their manager to pick out an individual star of the match, “Thats really tough to answer as each player genuinely played well, demonstrating moments of class which inevitably contributed to a good all round team performance. But I would have to go with the Mascots ‘Player of the Match’, Nicole Brown and the supporters ‘Player of the Match’ player-coach Alix Todd.”
“Nicole has been in great form this season and we saw that again today. Her movement was pivotal in linking up the play from midfield, allowing her and striking partner Sarah “Lenny” Leonard to combine and drive at the defenders, forcing Ascot’s way into the final third. Her goal was a well deserved reward for all her hard work and her assist to Hayley Cruickshanks helped seal the victory during an intense phase of the game.”
“Alix played in a slightly deeper position than normal but as usual gave everything for the cause, her work rate, awareness of what was going on around her and her use of the ball were on point and she also assisted in the build up with a couple of the goals.”
Related: How Ascot United and a childhood bet led to Alix Todd’s dream job.
First Round Proper
Ascot aren’t looking to get too ahead of themselves however as focus remains firmly on the upcoming league games before they’re considering the next round of the Cup, “Our focus is fully back on the league, we have had a good start to the season and have two league fixtures coming up before the next round of the FA Cup so its important we don’t let the cup distract us. Each week we continue to build on the foundations we’ve developed this season and thus far our hard work has paid off so we can only look to keep building and growing.”
Opponent Preparations
The focus for cup preparation is firmly on the morale and development in and around the Ascot camp, “Preparations for the game against Chichester will be just like any other, we know relatively little about them so we can only look to focus our attentions inward and grow on what we’ve achieved to date on and off the pitch as a team. We know there are plenty of areas in which we can improve, but we take pride in the progress we’ve made thus far in what is a relatively short period of time. The two league games prior to Chichester are the focus for now and great opportunities for us to continue to grow on what we’ve built.”
Ascot are scheduled to play in the First Round Proper of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup on Sunday 14th of November at home to Chichester and Selsey. Chichester and Selsey play in the Southern Premier Division of the Women’s National League.
