After the disappointment of twice losing the lead in a table topping six-pointer on the road at Derby County, eventually falling to a 3-2 defeat, the Coventry City Ladies could have been forgiven for capitulating and giving up on their Midland Women's Combination League title hopes. However, back to back home wins, 5-1 versus Leicester and 2-0 versus Copsewood, have served notice that they're intent on pushing the Rams all the way.
Manager Paul Cudby deserves a lot of credit for picking his side up & ensuring they were ready for the two big local clashes "The results and performances were the perfect response to the disappointment of losing last weekend. While Derby are clearly now in pole position all the coaches and players at Coventry are fully committed to winning every remaining league game. It's a big ask but as a team we're ready to face that challenge head on starting Sunday at Radcliffe who've had some excellent results this year".
Founded in 1999 Radcliffe Olympic have quickly risen through the Ladies' football pyramid including coasting through their regional league last season to take their place in the Midland's Combination. Radcliffe have steadied the ship after a rough introduction to life in the Combination and have lost just 2 of their last 11 games. Unbeaten at home since September the Blues trounced third place TNS/Shrewsbury 5-1 last time out and will look for a similar scalp this weekend. Sunday's match will pit the two sides against each other for the very first time.
As well as the league title the Sky Blues are still in the hunt become County Cup champions. Aston Villa shocked Birmingham City at the weekend beating them 3-2 in the semi-final to set up an April showdown with Coventry. Cudby and his young squad are relishing the challenge "We'll be preparing for Villa exactly the same as we would have prepared for the Blues. We know that we have to be at our very best collectively on the day, get our preparations right and play some great football too. I know what we're capable of and if I didn't believe that we could win, we wouldn't even turn up".
Villa's surprising win against an in form Birmingham side breaks their hold on the cup which has lasted 8 consecutive seasons. The defending Champions had been responsible for knocking the Sky Blues out of the competition in each of the past 4 years including inflicting a 3-1 extra time defeat in the 2005 final.