Cwmbran Celtic will have the chance to make history on Sunday when they face Swansea City in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup semi-finals at Jenner Park (KO 2pm).
Genero Adran South outfit Celtic are the only team outside the top-flight remaining in the competition, having caused a shock by beating Briton Ferry Llansawel in the quarter-finals.
A former top-flight side themselves, Celtic have ambitions of returning to those heights, but a memorable occasion awaits in Barry when they compete in the final four of a major competition.
Having taken over as manager in the summer after playing for the club, Georgia Shwartz is hoping her players can embrace the encounter against there-time Bute Energy Welsh Cup winners Swansea City.
“To be able to say we’re in the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup with some of the other teams that are in it is a great achievement in itself,” Shwartz said.
“We have had a good run in terms of the games we’ve had. Ferry was excellent from us. We were brilliant on that day. We competed, we battled, we did what we needed to do.
“We committed at the start of the season to making sure we had a good cup run, because that’s something I wanted to ensure that we could give the club, from that I wanted to drive awareness towards the club, because they deserve it.
“As soon as we got through, and we knew that we had Swansea, it was about enjoying it. We want the girls to go out there and, you get the most out of people when they’re enjoying it and they want to be on the pitch and they want to go and perform. They deserve to enjoy the experience.”
Bute Energy Welsh Cup
Semi-Finals preview
For Cwmbran Celtic as a whole, it is a big day for the football club, with a good backing for the tier two side expected.
While it is a difficult ask against a top four Genero Adran Premier side in Swansea City, Shwartz and Cwmbran Celtic will have belief that they can cause an upset.
“Everyone from the club is coming down, I think we’ve got all of our youth teams coming down. Our reserves are kicking off early so they can come down.
“Hopefully we can make it a really nice day out for the club and put on a good show for them. You never know, maybe even have some success, but it’s making sure we go out and put on a performance to be proud of, that’s what I said to the girls.
“We want to go and battle and compete. They have a great frontline but we do as well, we’ve scored a lot of goals recently, we have a lot of forwards with a lot of confidence. We have a lot of pace in our frontline that I think could do a bit of damage. Our midfield is brilliant, we’ve got two Adran Prem-experienced midfielders in Cerys Pinchard and Chelsea Cochrane, and Ella (Meaney) our captain comes back in as well.”
Away from the cup, Celtic are once again pushing for a return to the top-flight, having last been in the original Welsh Premier Women’s League in 2016.
Currently fourth in the Genero Adran South with 17 points from nine games played, Shwartz’s side have two games in hand on the two teams directly above them so there is still a lot to play for in another competitive season in the division.
“We need to make sure we’re getting those points on the board and putting pressure on those top performers in the league at the moment. Anything can happen in this league,” Shwartz explained. “It’s up to us, if we want to go and make a statement, then it’s for us to go and put those performances in and go and get the results.
“When I went in there, the main thing for me was not just to grow the women’s team but to grow the overall women’s section of the club. It’s a really good club with really good people, the volunteers are excellent. There’s no one who is paid; we all just do it because we love the club. I loved playing there and to come in and to be able to lead this team is something that I’m really proud of.
“The long-term goals is to get the first team back into the Welsh Prem. Whether that’s this season, next season or a season later on, it’s got to be when the club’s ready, it’s got to be when the players are ready, it’s a big transitional period for the club.”
