Brentford Gear Up For Historic FA Cup Tie Against Fulham
Karleigh Osborne’s Brentford Women are set to take on local rivals, Fulham Women, for the first time in a competitive setting in the third round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
Osborne and Brentford have had a cup run to remember, having scored a whopping 37 goals in only five matches. This included emphatic victories such as an 18-1 win away at North Leigh and a 12-1 home win against Tilehurst Panthers.
However the matchups have started getting closer, as in the previous round, Brentford edged past late against London Seaward with a 1-0 win, thanks to a 85th minute winner from forward Nikki Woods.
Regardless, this has been ‘The Bees’ best performance thus far in the FA Cup, and Osborne is excited for the upcoming tie, stating “These are the type of games you want to be involved in these are the type of games we’ve been trying to prepare our players (for) over a number of years”.
A cinematic clash
Brentford and Fulham historically hold a long local rivalry, and Osborne understands the importance of this match stating “there’ll be a lots of fans there, (adding) a little bit more fire to the fixture”.
He complimented Fulham stating “they’re a really good team, it’ll be a tough challenge but I believe if we perform at the levels that we can, we’ll give ourselves a really good chance of getting result”.
Fulham currently are a division above Brentford, playing in the premier division of the London and South East Women’s Regional Football League, where they remain unbeaten in seven games.
Osborne understood the challenge up ahead, and has been preparing accordingly claiming “there are chinks in their armour I think we can exploit”. He has used his experience and “research” of watching Fulham play over the years and said he will do his “best” to prepare his players and “put Fulham on the back foot”.
“No different from a normal matchday”
In terms of preparation, Osborne is hopeful the atmosphere in the dressing room will be “relaxed” before the derby. He stated “naturally players want to win, we’re a team that wants to win games no matter who we’re playing against”.
He aims to maintain a “calm and focused” and “positive energy” in the dressing room that eventually can translate to their performance on the pitch.
A victory for Brentford against Fulham will see them qualify for the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, and Osborne expressed his “excitement” in the possibility of playing a WSL club in the next round, which he feels would be “an amazing thing for his players”.
Kick-off is at 3 pm on Sunday, December 8, at Bedfont Sports Club.
