Ahead of a tough home fixture to Maindenhead, Nerve Sport caught up with AFC Bournemouth Womens' young and talented defender Abby Jones on their drive for promotion.
The Cherries welcome Maidenhead United for a 2pm kick-off this afternoon. Nerve Sport spoke to young and talented defender Abby Jones to reflect on their impressive 8-2 victory against Portishead Town last time out, and to look ahead to this weekend’s fixture.
Congratulations on your 8-2 win against Portishead Town. What were the emotions like in the dressing room after such a big win?
“The emotions were great. We didn't play very well the week before and to have such a reaction like that - I think everyone was really pleased.”
“We started off very well. We scored in the first five minutes. We made it 2-0 but they got a goal back and the next five minutes after they scored, it was a bit scrappy because they knew that they were back in the game.
"At 2-1 we scored a few more goals to make it 5-1 before half-time and then in the second half, we were well away, and we won 8-2.”
Becki Bath appears to be in fine goal scoring form following her hat-trick. How influential is a player like Becki for the team on and off the pitch?
“It's great. The older players, especially Becki, have got experience from the league above. And so, it shows us different styles of play we can use. We’ve got a lot of young players as well, so it really helps some of them too.”
You remain the only team in the league yet to lose a game after 11 matches, does the reputation of being an unbeaten side create any added pressure? And if so, how do you deal with that?
“It does create a lot of pressure because we know we have to win every single game because we want to win the league. We don’t want to draw any games. So, the dressing room before the game is quite tense, but we try to pick each other up and the more experienced players help us. Hopefully if we carry on winning all our games, we can win the league.”
You sit four points behind Cheltenham Town with two games in hand. How confident are you that this form of side can take the top spot come the end of the season?
“We are really confident. I think with our run of wins and draws we've got a lot of momentum for the games. We don't want to go losing any games now because we know Cheltenham have only lost one game. With the two games in hand, hopefully we can carry on.”
On Sunday, you play fifth place Maidenhead United, what do you feel are the most important aspects from the Portishead Town game to bring into this weekend??
?“We want to play the exact same as we did last weekend. We know they're a good side, they’ve got a lot of young players, and a lot of attacking threat. We think they're going to be very forward playing, making that first pass forward.
So, if we put a lot of pressure on them, hopefully they can't do that.”
Check out the full interview with defender Abby Jones and also manager Steve Cuss here.