Our trip to St Ledger Stadium this weekend is our final fixture of the group phase, having picked up two wins out of two as we currently sit second in Group P behind leaders Real Bedford on goal difference.
It has already been an impressive display from our youngsters so far in the senior competition – emphatically beating tier four side London Bees 7-1 before narrowly overcoming Northampton earlier this month – which has all but guaranteed their spot in the knockout stages of either the Cup or Plate.
Knowing a victory would secure their spot in the FAWNL Cup bracket, the first time we would reached that stage of the competition since the PGA’s introduction two seasons ago, Eloise feels the team have thrived going toe-to-toe with senior sides and showcases their ambitions of where they want to go.
“I feel in the two games we've played so far in the senior cup, we definitely have showed up and worked really well as a team,” she said. “We wanted to prove ourselves against tier four clubs and we have done that, winning 7-1 at London Bees and then 1-0 over Northampton.
“We thought Northampton was more of a physical struggle just because we came off the back of a number of big game weeks and everything, but I think we're ready to play against tier three.
“I just feel like the competitiveness in the games has shown a lot more than last season. I feel like we put up more physical battles than we did previously because we've been in and around it a lot, and the experience we've had playing games such as London Bees, who aspire to go into tier three. It's just a good battle, especially because it's where we want to be in the future.”
Elosie, who is a Scotland Under-19 international, scored the winning goal in our 1-0 win over Northampton Town earlier this month and she feels she has adapted well to the environment of senior matches.
“It’s definitely helped with my performance because I'm very much a physical front-footed player - and it matches me,” she added. “It's just let me show off myself a little bit more physically because I get to come up against players who are definitely a lot stronger than me, so I try and come up with ways to get around them and just see where I have to put myself to be like them. But I've definitely adapted well.”
However, the biggest test of the group phase will come this weekend when we travel to Real Bedford, who are the third tier of Women’s football and compete in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division.
“It's going to be a tough challenge as they're going to be very physical, very smart with how they play, but we're excited because it is a different challenge. It's a different league to London Bees and Northampton, so they're going to be more senior, more experienced players, but I feel the competitiveness and the excitement we have to play them is going to show on the pitch on Sunday.”
Supporters can head down to St Ledger Stadium to watch the next generation of players on Sunday with tickets priced at £6 for adults, £4 for Over 60s, £2 for 13–17-year-olds and £1 for Under-12s.
Real Bedford will also be providing a live stream of the game via their website.