As the only second tier side in this season’s FAW Women’s Cup semi-finals, Briton Ferry Llansawel could be viewed as underdogs. But captain Lowri Ridings says her team are ready to prove their worth.
The Reds face Aberystwyth Town in Carmarthen on Sunday, with the winner set to face either Cardiff City or Cardiff Met in April’s final.
“It was always going to be a difficult draw regardless,” Ridings admits. “You only need to look at the Adran Premier table to see how well Cardiff City are doing, but Aberystwyth are also a strong side. It will be a good challenge for us to play a club from the league above and see where we are at as a team.
“We played Aberystwyth last season and it was a close game. We are certainly not going to underestimate them, but obviously we want to get through. We have been training hard and have had some good results recently so we just need to back ourselves.”
Ridings, who played in the final as a 16-year-old with Swansea City in 2014, has scored three times during Briton Ferry’s goal-heavy run to the last four this season.
A 16-0 win over Merthyr Town kicked off their campaign, before a 9-1 triumph over Llanelli Town secured a quarter-final spot where they beat Cardiff Wanderers 5-1.
“I don’t score very often, so when it does happen it is obviously a great feeling!” Ridings says. “It would be amazing to reach the final and a massive confidence boost as we look to win promotion.”
Briton Ferry have not allowed their cup run to distract from their league duties, as they currently sit top of the Genero Adran South after winning eight of their first nine matches.
With a tier one licence applied for, the club are clear in their ambition to play top-flight football next season but Riding insists they are not getting ahead of themselves.
“With there being fewer teams in the league this year, it has been great to have a cup run because it has allowed us to play more games. It has been a really good season for us so far, but we know there are lots of important matches left to play as well so we are taking it week by week.
“Our main goal for the season is to achieve promotion and it would mean a great for everyone at the club to achieve that. I think that we have shown that we can compete with really good teams.”
“We are a confident group and rightly so because we are top of the league. But there is a fine line between confidence and complacency, which we have spoken about a lot this season. Even though we are top, we won’t stay top if we become complacent because there is still a long way to go.”
FAW WOMEN’S CUP SEMI-FINALS
Sunday 19 February – 2pm
Aberystwyth Town v Briton Ferry Llansawel (Richmond Park, Carmarthen)
Cardiff Met v Cardiff City (Penydarren Park, Merthyr)
