Ed Jackson-Norris说足总杯允许Maidenhea运行d United to dream

米aidenhead United Women’s boss Ed Jackson-Norris said the FA Cup ‘allows you to dream’ after the Magpies came through Sunday’s 'proper cup tie’ at Richmond & Kew to book themselves a first-round tie at Sutton United Women.

United managed to book their place in the next round with a deserved 3-1 win in West London, coming from behind to put their name in the hat.

In a game that had plenty of twists, turns and drama, Maidenhead fell behind in the 60th minute, but displayed patience, character – and no little skill – to fight back with goals from Izzy Stockton, Simone O’Brien and Nat Cowell.

The hosts also missed a penalty to make it 2-2 shortly after O’Brien had swept home the goal of the game in the 76th minute.

Speaking with Maidenhead United’s Neil Maskell after the final whistle, Jackson-Norris said: “That’s probably what you’d describe as a proper cup tie that one.

“There always difficult. Being the bigger side coming into the game. That poses some unusual problems for us. We’re not used to being the side that are, by a considerable margin, the bigger team going into the game, so we had to deal with that pressure and the expectancy that comes with that.

“That brings its own dynamic to our performance. They were properly up for it. Speaking to their coaches beforehand, they fancied their chances to win and tried to match up to us formation wise, going 4-3-3. They were aggressive, they played on the front foot, and they played without fear which was cool to see.

“Performance wise, first half our patience was good. We had a lot of ball possession and territory but without the final bit of quality. We were trying to force it in the wrong areas.

“Second half, we were much better. We tried to play in the right areas and utilised our pivot players a lot better. We created some much better moments and a prime example of that was our third goal.”

Defensively the Magpies dealt with pretty much everything that was thrown at them by Richmond, however, they had to be alert to the hosts’ threat from set-pieces and quick counter attacks. In transition they posed a threat and had they scored from their late penalty the outcome could well have been different, however, Maidenhead made the most of the little bit of luck that went their way to cement their place in the next round.

“Their game plan was direct; they rely on set pieces but it’s clearly effective for them. Their striker was a real handful. She was difficult to deal with and defenders didn't have any moments where they could just switch off.

“We were aware of the threat they posed from set pieces and on the counterattack. Generally dealt well with that for the most part, we defended our box very and protected Rosie (Wilmott-Joyce – goalkeeper) superbly. We rode our luck a bit as well, but that comes with the territory in a cup competition.

“Our third goal comes moments after they missed a penalty. We’ve basically gone up the other end and scored, which is great. Nat (Cowell) got the goal between the posts. We’re trying to maximise her output by positioning her in those areas and it’s great for her to get a goal. It’s also a great contribution from the bench. She’s a regular starter but she didn’t start today but has shown great character to come on and still influence the game.

“With the penalty, these are the kind of games that last year we’d 100 per cent have lost, but this year we’ve got the resilience to roll up our sleeves and the grit to carry on and grind out a result against a lower league side.

“It keeps us in the FA Cup and the FA Cup is different, it allows you to dream. It feels different to a league game. There’s more jeopardy because if you concede one goal you could be out. For teams like us, winning today puts some nice money in the bank and it keeps the dream alive. We’re all ambitious. We all want to play and coach at the highest level, me included. I quite fancy Matt Beard (Liverpool Women’s manager) or Emma Hayes’ (Chelsea Women’s manager) job at some point and we’re three games away from playing against them now.”