I would like to start by congratulating Roberto Di Matteo on a fantastic performance against Napoli and guiding the club into the champions league quarter final, what a game it was to!

It reminds me of the Ladies’ weekend win, which was another cracking finale! We beat Brighton 3-0 but all the goals came the final 10 minutes, it was a fantastic end to our first competitive game of the campaign.

All six of our new signings were involved and three of them were on the score sheet. Considering our pre-season hasn’t been anything like we imagined, with only two games, one of which was cancelled half-way through, I was pleased with the overall performance.

We dominated the game from start to finish but had to be patient. Dunia Susi headed us in front, Helen Bleazard and Sue Lappin added to the scoresheet as we demolished Brighton towards the end. Prior to that we hit the woodwork four times and their keeper made two good saves. On another day it could have been 5 or 6-0. Mind you, if you said before the game we’d win 3-0, I would have been very happy!

We’ve been drawn away against Doncaster Rovers Belles in the quarter-final of The FA Cup. It will be tough game as their manager John Buckley always organises hard-working sides. But we have good memories of our trip to Donnie last season with a 4-1 win! That was another cracking game.

Anyway, back to the football, because on Tuesday we held a Q&A session with Colne Valley girls. They’re a local side from Staines, where we play, so we invited them down to pick our brains and take part in training. It was good to see them interact with the players and there were a lot of laughs during the Q&A. Once it was over they warmed up with the first-team and took part in some passing drills before we went off to prepare for Sunday’s Continental Cup tie with Lincoln.

We’re looking forward to that game, it will be a tough test ahead of the first FA Women’s Super League clash on Monday 9 April. Claire Rafferty has been given the all clear from her surgeon and has been in full training now for two weeks, so could potentially be back in our squad on Sunday. So, apart from Drew Spence, who has bruised her foot, I will have a full squad to choose from, which is excellent!

And finally, good luck to the youth team on Friday at Old Trafford in their FA Youth Cup semi-final against Man United and again to the men’s first-team against Leicester on Sunday. Up the Blues!

Beardie