Bournemouth lifted the Hampshire Senior Cup following a dramatic penalty shootout victory over rivalry Southampton RTC Academy at Fratton Park.
Tuesday 9th May 2023 is a day that will go down in history for The Cherries, as the women brought home a well deserved trophy.
After a 2-0 victory against Moneyfields in the quarter-finals, Bournemouth triumphed in the semi-finals, with a first half goal over Portsmouth that sent them to the finals. This ended Portsmouth’s 13-year stranglehold on the trophy.
Despite an extremely young squad, with three debuts this season from three 16 year olds- Molly Gladwell, Holly Humphreys and Kristina MacKinnon- Manager, Steve Cuss, believes this has been one of the Cherries best seasons yet:
“They have done really well to push themselves into the first-team environment. They have performed well and kept their places.
They have flourished and we’ve seen some really strong performances from them.”
Fellow teenagers Lucy Cooper, Elle Elkins, Pearl Mortimer and Jess Treweek have all displayed incredible performances during this campaign, in which Cooper also converted from the spot for the win in the Cup.
The Cherries have a complimentary balance of both youth and experienced players, in which Gladwell’s corner was headed away by 24 year old defender Kelly Fripp just before the break. Fripp was recently announced as the Manager’s player of the season.
However, Katie Scadding had arguably the most impact on the game from the net, with saves from Saints trio Sofia Mallon, Helena Meadows and Ellie Chaffe. As well as this, Bournemouth’s number 1 contributed to the winning sides penalty tally.
Scadding had been painted as a hero in both the league and Cup, following numerous clean sheets during the season. The most impressive came from an 8-0 win over Keynsham Town back in September and a double figured 10-0 victory away to relegated side Larkhall Athletic.
A comfortable 4th spot position in the National League (tier 4), with just 1 point ahead of Southampton, provides Cuss’ side with full confidence going into next season.
With the motivation from lifting the County Cup this year, will promotion be a possibility next season?