Page 14 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.18 2022-23

Cardiff City Ladies are enjoying a magnificent run in the
Vitality Women’s FA Cup this season and on Sunday, they won
4-1 away to Burnley FC Women to make it through to the Fifth
Round.
Cardiff captain Cori Williams scored the opening goal in
the win against Burnley but, as well as reflecting on a great
performance and an upcoming tie against Lewes, she insists
that the main aim is the Division One South West title:
WSS: Congratulations on a marvellous result for
your team on Sunday, just how good was the team's
performance on the day?
CW: It was the best we’ve played all season, on and off the ball
everyone did their jobs 100% and we knew we would have to
all be on it to go and win the game, everyone was superb.
WSS: Burnley went into the game with an unbeaten
record in the league above but did you approach the
match full of confidence?
CW: Yes definitely, we played a couple of teams in their league in pre-season and competed
well. So we knew we could go and give a performance, and we truly believe if we all perform
on the day we are good enough to compete against anyone.
WSS: How big a moment in the game was the opening goal, particularly as you
scored two more in quick succession afterwards?
CW: Yeah, we were under a lot of pressure in the first fifteen minutes, so we knew when the
first chance came we had to take it and it fell well to me and I was confident I was going to
finish it.
WSS: Your reward for beating Burnley in the Fifth Round is a tie against Lewes,
what are your thoughts on facing them?
CW: Excited! I think it’s definitely again a fixture that we will look at and know we can go
and compete, and on the day you never know.
WSS: In the meantime it's a very important match away to Exeter City this
coming Sunday, presumably you will treat this in the same way that you did
with Burnley?
CW: We treat every game we play exactly the same, we’ve got standards that we expect of
each other week by week and nothing will change that come Sunday. We know it’s going to
be tough, they are a good team so again we all have to be on it and ready to give a
performance.
WSS: How pleasing has the team's reaction been since the somewhat surprising
defeat a couple of weeks ago?
CW: I think we probably needed it, nothing is going to come easy - you have to take the highs
with the lows and I think it’s made us more resilient. Some of these girls hadn’t experienced
tough times and now we have, so we know going forward we will be able to face anything.
WSS: After an unfortunate relegation at the end of last season, has there been
an extra determination amongst the squad to get back up at the first attempt?
CW: Yes definitely, last season was tough. We fell short at the end, and since that happened
all the players and the club want is to keep pushing forward, on and off the field and that’s
what we are trying to do.
Our thanks to Cori!
news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk