Bristol Rovers Women are looking to build on last year’s brilliant Adobe FA Cup run and progress to the third round when they host Fulham at The Memorial Stadium, with Nathan Hallett-Young ready for the challenge the Cottagers will bring.
Having made it to the fourth round in the 2024/25 season, Bristol Rovers Women want to make history again. The Gas Girls started the competition with a thumping 6-1 victory over Marine Plymouth Academy before beating Haringey Borough Women 3-0 to progress to the second round.
Rovers are third in the Division One South West and are six points behind league leaders Moneyfields. The Cottagers have had a stellar season and are top of Division One South East, one point ahead of Norwich City. Fulham cruised to the second round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup after beating South London 5-0 and will be looking to extend their impressive unbeaten run to five fixtures.
Speaking to BRTV before the fixture, Nathan Hallett-Young is confident that Bristol Rovers Women are in good shape to make it through to the next round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup.
Are you and the team ready for the Adobe Women’s FA Cup draw against Fulham?
“I think we’re ready for the challenge. I think that across the board, we've shown that we can play some really good football and go toe-to-toe with the top of our division. Obviously, they’re the top of theirs at the moment, so it’s going to be an interesting one.
“It’s the South West division versus the South East, so it’ll be interesting to see the difference in the level between the two, and obviously, it’s at the same step of the pyramid, so for us, it’ll just be a matter of going into it as we would normally go into it.
“We’ll plan across the week and put what we need to do into play. I think we’re solid in our structure. We’ve got to make sure that we’re firing across all cylinders in front of the goal, and I think it’ll cause enough problems for them.”
What you would it mean to get to the next round of the competition?
“I think first and foremost it’s the visibility. It’s the opportunity to play against sides that you don’t normally play against.
“This round is great; we’ve not played Fulham before, and hopefully it’s an opportunity for us to draw a good crowd and play at The Memorial Stadium. Additionally, like last season, financially, it’s obviously a massive help to us.
“We drew in quite a substantial amount of money from the FA Cup last year, and obviously that helps going into the operational budget going into this year as well. So, it’s massive for any club that’s involved.”
What challenges do you think you will face against a tough Fulham team?
“I think it will be very similar to last weekend when we played Moneyfields. Quite a direct, physical side and somebody who will be looking to play the transitional game quite often. I think they’ll probably look to play a little bit more football than Moneyfields on the weekend, but obviously, the pitch is going to come into play there as well.
“So, being at The Memorial Stadium is going to be dramatically helpful for both sides to be able to play some good football. And then obviously for us, it’s just a matter of how we step in from this weekend. As much as it’s fun to look at them, and how we’re going to pose their challenges.
“For us, we’ve got to flip it the other way around and think about how we're going to win the game and how we're going to really focus on ourselves to improve on the things that we need to improve on? And obviously to progress forward.”
How important is it that this tie is at The Memorial Stadium and you can have the Gasheads behind you?
“It’s massive. I think it’s really, really important that we’re getting another opportunity to fill The Mem. I think the more fans we can get in there, the better. Obviously, we’ve seen it so far in terms of the games that we have played there, that the crowd make a good atmosphere for us and obviously sets the tone for the game.
“We’ve seen it where they’ve uplifted us and pushed us through. So, hopefully they can do the same going into this weekend, and naturally it’s always nice to play at The Mem.”
