Josie Foster says she is “so proud” after South Shields Women booked their ticket to the semi-final of the DCFA Women’s Cup with a shoot-out win over Sunderland West End Ladies.
The Mariners were taken to penalties after Eve Gatens’ first goal since the end of September was cancelled out by Pavanjot Kaur’s late equaliser from close range.
Foster slotted home the winning penalty to take the team into the last four, for the first time in three years.
“Yeah, so proud of all the girls for stepping up and being so calm in the penalties all season,” she reflected after the game.
“We’ve come such a long way this season in terms of our confidence and technique in pens… and yeah, I’m obviously absolutely buzzing to have scored the winning pen!”
When pressed about the 90 minutes preceding that, she says she was pleased with what she saw, but had a special mention for West End keeper Summer Sawyer who played fantastically.
Foster added: “To be honest I thought we were the better team by a mile!
“We played some good football on the ground due to the wind, and had so many chances we just couldn’t put away.
“Their keeper put an absolute shift in; without her I think we could’ve comfortably put the game to bed.
“But we were ready for pens, we’ve been practicing them all season in training, so I had no doubt we’d win!”
It marked the team’s first outing for three weeks, following postponements in the league due to the poor weather, so it was “nice” in her view to get playing again.
She said: “It was nice to get back on the pitch after a few weeks out and even better to get that win to put us through to the semi-final!
“We have a really good chance of winning some silverware this year.
“We just need to keep working hard and performing like we have all season.”
The lasses are now enjoying their well-earned Christmas break and won’t be in action until January 2025, when they host Bradford City AFC Women at home.
Foster says it will be the perfect time to prepare for an uphill battle in the NERWFL Premier Division, with Shields sitting sixth as things stand, but with games in hand over many teams.
“Yeah, it’ll be nice for us all to have a little break away to reset and group together on what we need to do for the rest of the season,” she finished.
“We’ll be back training and focusing on our first game back in the league!”
Shields will host Chester-le-Street Town Ladies at home in the semi-final on Sunday, February 16th, with full details to be confirmed.
Image credit: Craig McNair (@ideventphoto)
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