BEES COME FIRST, SAYS HOLIDAY GIRL BECKY
LONDON Bees’ shock victory over Chelsea in the Continental Tyres Cup was such a surprise that Bees midfielder Rebecca Anderson was due to be on holiday for this weekend’s quarter-finals.
But, after that incredible 4-2 win on penalties over the reigning Women’s Super League champions – having held them to a 2-2 draw in normal time – Anderson was straight on the phone to change her flight.
She will now join her friends in Corfu two days later than planned but is more than happy to put her downtime on hold with an improbable cup semi-final place on the line against Sheffield FC.
“I was supposed to be there for five days. Now it’s only three, but football comes first,” she said. “It will be even more worthwhile if we win. I am happy to sacrifice my holiday for the football.”
The part-timers sit sixth in the Women’s Super League 2 table and few gave them a chance when they were drawn against Chelsea, who can boast England stars such as Karen Carney, Eni Aluko and Fran Kirby.
And, with the spectacular result still fresh in the memory, Anderson insists the Bees can use that as ammunition on Sunday She said: “As we beat the champions in the last round, the cup has taken more of a special place in our hearts than if we had beaten a side from the same division. “It was an unbelievable experience, really. Nobody expected it and it was such a shock. “As the game went on and we grew into it, we got more confident and at half-time and full-time we looked at each other and said ‘We have a chance here’. “We worked so hard for 90 minutes. We were not going to roll over and say ‘have the win’. It would have been heart-breaking to lose.” Fellow WSL 2 side Sheffield – who were promoted last season – ended the Bees’ seven-match unbeaten streak the last time the two sides met in a 5-0 thrashing at The Hive. Anderson knows to expect a physical test from the team who have beaten strong WSL 2 promotion-chasers in Durham and Bristol City to reach this stage. “We are positive. We played Sheffield in the league a couple of weeks back and they beat us, but we were not on our game at all,” she added. “We are going there to give it a good shot and take the confidence and belief from our good results and that Chelsea game. “We need to be more physical with them. “They are a physical side and we didn’t compete. That’s something we need to do on Sunday. We all know that so we should be OK.” In Sunday’s other quarter-finals, Birmingham City take on Liverpool and Doncaster Rovers Belles travel to WSL1 leaders Manchester City.