BEES STILL BUZZING OVER DEAD RUBBER

THOUGH, on the face of it, little looks to be on the line when London Bees welcome Watford to the Hive this afternoon, manager Julian Broomes believes winning a Continental Tyres Cup tie for the first time would rubber stamp the steady progress his team have been making.

The pair were set to go head-to-head in their penultimate Group One clash last month, but torrential rain resulted in the match being postponed and a packed fixture list has robbed them of a date to rearrange.

With neither able to advance, the competition has already moved on without them as the quarter-final stages were contested last weekend.

The group stage can finally be consigned to history today, but Bees boss Broomes believes it represents more than just a dead rubber for the two WSL 2 strugglers, both winless in the competition so far this year.

“We don’t want to finish bottom of the group,” Broomes said.“We really want the three points to finish above Watford. We have improved immensely this season. We’ve trained against the Academy boys sometimes, to get the girls used to a high tempo.

“We’re showing that we’re a good team and I want the girls to continue that progress on Sunday.”