CUWFC February Round Up

United's women's team made club history by reaching their first national cup final

Cambridge United – cup finalists. Cambridge played three league games which shared fifteen goals between them in February. It’s hard to escape though, that this was the biggest game, and the biggest result for quite some time for United so this month we tell the story of how Cambridge United overcame a strong Barnsley team to reach the final of the National League Plate.

Barnsley are pushing for promotion in their own league (the National League Div 1 North), but it was goals from Rachel Kosky, Bella Simmons, and Ruth Fox which sent United into their first national cup final, in their first appearance in the semi-final stage of this tournament.

Photo courtesy of @CambridgeUtdWFC on X

Cambridge started quickly, after just 6 minutes, Rachel Kosky made her way forward for a free kick in the middle of the park; her flick over the goalkeeper’s head gave the U’s the lead. Barnsley wasted little time in responding. Winger Emily Pierrepont was a standout for the away side throughout, she pulled the ball back, having beaten Kosky for pace, and at the second attempt it was turned in by Alayna Millard.

Barnsley dominated possession through most of the match, showing they would not be beaten in a passing game. United had to make the most of the times they were able to break, and they did exactly that. With Zoe Wood and Alysha Stojko-Down providing creative outlets in the middle, Cambridge could threaten whenever they could get the ball to Marden and Simmons on the wings in transition.

Around the hour, Stojko-Down found enough space to play through Simmons, who surged into the area and finished low past the keeper. For Cambridge’s third, Wood was the provider; breaking on the left wing, she had the awareness to square the ball for Fox, who’d only come on as a substitute a few minutes earlier. Fox’s controlled finish on the turn put the game largely out of Barnsley’s reach, even if a late goal in stoppage time made the score a nervier 3-2.

Post game, Darren Marjoram almost seemed apologetic for the quality of the match, and while it was cagey at times, it made for an interesting tactical battle where Cambridge picked their fights and were fantastic at countering Barnsley. The U’s deserved their win in front of 407 fans which is an outstanding crowd for the regular ground in St Neots.

In his fantastic blog Women’s Football East, Darren Gilham selected Sammy Edgar for player of the match for her never-ending tenacity in midfield which I certainly will not dispute. I would also add Lauren Webb however, who kept United in the game during periods of Barnsley pressure particularly in the first half. One excellent save in particular kept a free kick from flying into the top corner. Another who deserves mention is Zoe Wood, who showed immense quality and calmness just behind the front three, assisted the final goal and was very effective in helping United see the game out. It feels harsh, though, to exclude anyone, as this was a whole team effort to make it to the final on 21 April where United will take on Derby County.

Rounding up United’s league fixtures, all the way back at the beginning of the month, Cambridge travelled down to Plough Lane to play AFC Wimbledon. Another win by 6 goals for the home team with a clean sheet this time too. 6-0 it finished. Let’s get back to the positivity.

Before their big cup fixture, United played out two much more positive league games, starting with a convincing 5-1 victory over Actonians. After a half of relative positivity from Cambridge, they fell behind just before half time. An early second half equaliser from Bella Simmons and a red card which gave United a penalty (scored by Zoe Wood) turned the game on its head though. Another 3 would be scored before full time, one more each for Simmons and Wood, as well as a debut goal for Abbi Smith, a young midfielder who has joined on loan from Ipswich for the rest of the season. Cambridge now with a perfect record against the side who ran out 4-0 winners at the Abbey on the final day of last season.

Finally, in the midweek run-up to Sunday’s cup game, a rotated United squad beat AFC Sudbury 2-1. A start was given to Kira Markwell in place of Lauren Webb, the ever-present shot stopper; Charlotte Gillies also started, and gave United the lead before half time. A Sudbury equaliser from a corner split our two goals, but Bella Simmons’ winner means Cambridge are now comfortably in the top half, with a couple of teams just above to shoot at in the coming weeks.

A national cup final awaits then against the aforementioned Derby (who beat Exeter in their semi-final). Between now and then is a four-game month of March, starting with a trip to QPR. Cambridge’s next two home games are on Tuesday 14^th, and Sunday 24^th both at St Neots Town; both are fantastic chances to get behind the team and hopefully build on Sunday’s superb crowd.