Barnet Ladies’ appearance in the FA Women’s Premier League Cup final has got the whole club buzzing.
While the Bees’ male counterparts fight tooth and nail for Football League survival, the Ladies are tantalisingly close to cup glory.
They face Nottingham Forest at Wycombe Wanderers FC on Thursday, March 24.
Manager Tracey Kevins said: "The support we have received from the men's first team has been staggering. We share training facilities with them and they will be coming along. We are having medical sessions with their physio and will be having our pre-match meal where they have theirs.
"The men's first team manager Paul Fairclough called me up last week to say how much of a boost this has been for the club. Wycombe isn’t too far from us and the girls are excited about playing at a Football League ground. We will have coach-loads of supporters backing us."
The cup run has been a breath of fresh air with the team struggling at the wrong end of the Women’s Premier League. Kevins has been delighted to see her players show real cup pedigree in the last couple of seasons.
She said: "We targeted this cup as one we could do well in and it has been a welcome distraction from the league. We reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup last season and have again proved ourselves to be cup specialists.
"It is a new experience for many of our players to be in a national cup competition so in some senses this is a journey into unchartered territory. I have been in secret discussions with teams who have been in the final in the past about inches we can steal.
"We will need the experience of our captain Danielle Murphy, who has won the competition before. She really settles down the dressing room and tells the girls what to do when we are up against it.
"There is a real feeling that this is a chance for the whole club to shine and at a time when some male teams have received negative press, they have done brilliantly by us. Reaching the final has really brought home to the girls how important a part of the club they are.
"It was very tight in our goalless Premier League draw with Nottingham Forest earlier this season. We had a player sent off and either team could have sneaked a win. I’m sure it will be another close contest."
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