AFC Bournemouth Women continue their title challenge this weekend, taking on Maidenhead United on Sunday 13 at Verwood Town’s Potterne Park..
AFC Bournemouth Women continue their title challenge this weekend, taking on Maidenhead United on Sunday 13 at Verwood Town’s Potterne Park.
Steve Cuss’ side are coming into this game in hot form, with the Cherries most recently beating Portishead Town 8-2.
The Bournemouth boss was pleased with his side’s attacking performance, saying: “We’ve threatened to score a few goals in previous games and never really had it happen.
“I’ve got to say on Sunday it was really good attacking play, and we were clinical in front of goal.
“To be 5-1 up at half time and carry on in the second half I thought it was very pleasing.”
Despite being second in the league, the Boscombe side are the only unbeaten team in the league and are only five points behind league leaders Cheltenham, with two games in hand.
Abby Jones, the club’s right-back, spoke about the pressures of being the team to beat: “We want to win this league and we’ve got seven games left and we want to win them all. “Hopefully, if we do all that, we can win the league. We know we have to win every single game so the dressing room before can be quite tense, but we pick each other up, especially the more experienced players.”
The aim for the Cuss’ side will be to carry on from where they left off, but the Cherries boss won’t be taking the Sunday’s opposition lightly, saying: “We’re confident in our form but we also know we’re up against a really good side this weekend in Maidenhead who beat one of our title contenders, Exeter, a few weeks ago.
“We know they’re a strong side and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them this weekend.”
Cuss has been in charge of the women’s team for three years, although his tenure at the club has been more than complicated.
Provided nothing extreme occurs, this will be the first full season that the Bournemouth boss will complete with the Cherries due to the last two campaigns being called off due to COVID.
When asked about the highlight of the job, Cuss said: “I’ve got to say the most enjoyable thing is watching the players develop.
“They’re a great bunch to work with in terms of they want to train and practice and get better.
“We’ve had the challenge of coming into the National League this year and for us to do as well as we have done is really pleasing and it’s great to see the development of the players.”
This Bournemouth side is a team that has been built for the future with six players in the first team being born after 2004. The most recent academy export that is setting the league alight is Lucy Cooper; the 16-year-old scored a brace within the first 14 minutes of last Sunday’s 8-2 thrashing of Portishead.
Cuss was full of praise for the youngster saying: “She’s someone that we think a lot of at the football club.
“Coming in at just 16 years old and scoring the goals she’s starting to score we think she’s got a bright future ahead and we’ll see how that develops.
“There’s no pressure on Lucy; it’s important she keeps playing and enjoying her football and we’ll see where her career takes her.”
Bournemouth took over the women’s team in 2015, with a focus on building an infrastructure that can produce young talent. Seven years on, they now have an under-10s, 12s, 14s and 16s. some of the names to have come out of the academy are Abby Jones, Katelyn Wort and Helen Corbin.
2pm on Sunday will see Bournemouth hoping to make another leap for promotion however, the resilient Maidenhead will be stood in their way.