PreviewLFC Women U21s set for Liverpool County FA Women's Senior Cup final
Liverpool FC Women’s U21s are hoping to finish their season in style on Tuesday night as they take part in the final of the Liverpool County FA Women’s Senior Cup.
The young Reds will take to the field against Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies at Walton Hall Park, looking to successfully round off a campaign that has been full of promise and progression.
Based at the AXA Melwood Training Centre alongside Matt Beard’s senior squad, the U21s ended their league season with a third-placed finish, having also reached the semi-final of another cup competition.
Now they hope to go one step further than last term, when they lost out in the final of the LCFA Senior Cup to Liverpool Feds, the team they beat 5-4 in a dramatic last-four showdown back in March.
Simon O’Neill, head coach for the LFC Women Pro Game Academy, said: “It’s a great reward for what’s been a pretty successful season.
“It’s a senior cup final, which is pleasing. They’ve done very well to reach it, especially beating a strong Liverpool Feds team.
“That should give us confidence going into the game, as should our performances in the rest of the season.
“We pretty much took the league down to the last game and we had a strong finish.
“But the real success has been players training with the first team on a weekly basis. And to see three players in the first-team squad against Chelsea last week, that’s real success.”
O’Neill is in no doubt about the high motivation for the team as they play together for the final time, as well as hoping to make up for the disappointment of last year’s final.
“It’ll be the last game for the girls as a group so it’d be nice for them to win,” he continued.
“We’ve got quite a few of the second-years who played in the final last year, so they know what it’s like to get all that way and not win, and I’m sure they’ll do everything in their power to make sure it doesn’t happen twice in a row.”
The academy has had an important role to play for Beard’s side this season.
Midfielder Mia Leath made her debut against Manchester City at Prenton Park in the Barclays Women’s Super League, while Eva Spencer and Charlie Chadwick have been part of matchday squads.
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Academy graduate Zara Shaw also recently returned to training after an anterior cruciate ligament injury in pre-season.
“It’s great to see, it gives them [the U21s] a tangible aspiration,” O’Neill said. “It’s wonderful that we have the first team literally training on the next pitch, so they can have a look and see, ‘That’s where I want to progress to.’
“The connectivity at Melwood is great for our girls. They can watch first-team training, see how they behave, see the difference in speed of play and physicality.
“The fact all the first-team staff know the girls is helpful – they come and watch. And seeing your peers and your friends doing it, it should give you extra motivation.”
The Liverpool County FA Women’s Senior Cup final kicks off at 7pm BST on Tuesday at Walton Hall Park.
Admission is just £3 for adults and free for children. Free parking is also available on-site.