Chatham Town Women are away to Chesham United on Sunday in National League South East Division 1 – Keith Boanas’ side beat Dorking Wanderers 5-2 last weekend in the Women’s FA Cup first round
Published: 06:00, 08 November 2024
Updated: 08:48, 08 November 2024
Chatham Town Women’s boss Keith Boanas isn’t expecting an easy ride against lowly Chesham United this Sunday.
His own team beat Dorking Wanderers 5-2 in the Women’s FA Cup first round last weekend and play away to Chesham in National League South East Division 1.
The hosts are one place above the relegation zone but Boanas is wary ahead of the fixture.
While their weekend opponents have suffered heavy defeats on their travels, including a 6-0 FA Cup loss to Fulham and a 12-2 defeat in their least league outing, they’re no pushovers at home.
Chesham beat Montpelier Villa 5-2 in the earlier round of the FA Cup and picked up a point with a creditable 2-2 draw against high-flying Norwich City at The Meadow. They also beat the Tottenham Hotspur Academy in a cup game on home ground.
It’s still a match Chats will be expected to win, but Boanas will remind his players of the dangers ahead.
He said: “They're low but it's a weird, weird team. If you look at their results, they drew with Norwich and they've had close games at home. It just seems they don't travel well.
“I've got to be cautious about it. They got battered a couple of weeks back by one of the teams in our league, and lost to Fulham last week in the cup, but both away.
“It looks like they've almost got two teams, one that stays at home and one that travels! We can't take anything for granted, and that was proven against Ashford Town (only narrowly beating the bottom side 1-0).
“We've got to get in there with the right mindset and be ruthless with it.”
Chatham’s 5-2 win in the Women’s FA Cup on Saturday saw Amelia Woodgate bag another hat-trick, the third time in as many cup games she’s hit a treble.
She started the day by picking up a hat-trick of trophies too, claiming the goal-of-the-month award along with both the supporters’ and manager’s player-of-the-month for October.
Maintaining that good form, she scored the opener against Dorking and added a second just before the break. The visitors pulled one back shortly after the restart but an own-goal restored the two-goal advantage from a corner.
Ellie Perkins made it 4-1, Dorking added a second, but Woodgate completed the scoreline by converting from the penalty spot.
Boanas said: “She’s firing all cylinders and it’s also a testament to the supply line she's getting as well.
“The first goal was a sublime bit of skill by Jess King, a little trick reverse pass and it just split their defence and she'd made the right run. I'm pleased for her.
“I was gutted to concede the two goals we did but we obviously responded quickly to both of their goals.
“The penalty sealed it and I was able to get all the subs on, albeit a couple late to kill time at the end.
“They're a well-organised and well-supported side and we knew it was going to be a tough game but I think we coped quite well.
“We had not only a good side-out, we lost Megan Maslak late on to a neck problem, a trapped nerve, so I had to change the team right at the death. We still had a really strong bench.
“Jasmine Auguste and Otesha Charles had just come back from a friend's birthday holiday. I couldn't start them on morals, but they're terrific players to bring on when you need to.
“It was job done, and obviously as we keep stressing, the funding going into the club is a massive help at this level.”
Chatham have been drawn away to league rivals London Bees in round two.
Boanas said: “It could have been worse, could have been better. It'll be a tough one at their place.
“I know we beat them 4-0 earlier in the season, but their results have upped since.
“It's obviously a winnable game, but one we'll have to take with every caution and prepare properly as we did last Sunday. We made sure we covered penalties in case, as it was going direct to penalties had it been a draw at the end.
“It's just about getting the preparation right and keeping the momentum going, because it's not that far away.”
The match is due to be played on Sunday, November 24.
Chats, meanwhile, are still awaiting the outcome of their abandoned game at London Seaward. They were leading 2-0 when an opposition player suffered a head injury, leading to the hosts requesting that the game was stopped.
It’s up to the league and the FA to decide what happens next. Victory in that game would have seen Chats sit joint to of the table heading into this weekend.
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Luke Cawdell