After a rocky start to the campaign, there seems to be no stopping Wrexham heading towards the back end of the season.
Currently on a six-game winning streak in all competitions, the Red Dragons catapulted themselves into the Genero Adran Premier top four and have won their opening two games in Phase Two.
Defender Erin Lovett doesn’t believe there is a secret to their upturn in form, but that the whole squad knows what needs to be done now.
Bute Energy Welsh Cup semi-finals
‘This season has been a rollercoaster’
“I don’t think there is a secret to the run we’re on at the minute. We knew we needed that top four spot at the start of the season, and to at least get to another cup final, those were our aims. It was a bit of a rollercoaster at the start of the season. We were playing well as a team, but sometimes we weren’t clinical enough or we’d make mistakes, but we’ve flicked a switch, and we all know what path we’re on now and what the form has to be.”
Perhaps their most impressive result in this run was last week’s win away at Cardiff City. Steve Dale’s side had failed to get the better of the Bluebirds in their previous eight meetings, but victory in the capital was a big step psychological, according to Lovett.
“It’s more mentally what it does than anything else. Even playing against them last season was more of a mental battle than a physical one, because you begin to think that you’ll never get over that hurdle. But the momentum that we’ve got right now is amazing. The new girls came in over the summer, and we’re now so together as a group. We knew Cardiff and Swansea weren’t miles ahead of us, and their teams have changed, but we knew we had to take advantage of that, and we have.”
‘Pontypridd will be a good test’
Attention this weekend, however, turns to the Bute Energy Welsh Cup, and for Wrexham, a meeting with Genero Adran South leaders Pontypridd United.
“We’re expecting a good test from Pontypridd. We’ve got to go into the game with a professional mindset and treat it like any other game. They’re top of their league at the moment, on a real good run of form, and you can’t treat them lightly. It’s going to be a tough battle. They beat Aberystwyth to get to this stage, so they have experience of beating an Adran Premier side, so it’s going to be a difficult game.”
Simply looking at where both sides are in terms of their respective leagues, Wrexham will go into the game as firm favourites. Lovett explained the difficulties of having that tag on them but is hopeful their momentum can get them through.
“It’s difficult going into a game as favourites. Last season, we were the underdogs when we came up from the Adran North, and Pontypridd are the underdogs heading into Sunday. They’ll come out just as hard as we will and be as prepared as we will. It’s hard going into a game that you are expected to win, but with the momentum that we have now, it’s definitely an advantage for us.”
Wrexham certainly have unfinished business in this competition, and they want to write the wrongs of last season. Lovett is fully aware of what Ponty will bring to the table but says her and her teammates’ eyes are on the final.
“This is a really important game for us. It’s the Welsh Cup; we want to win. After coming so close last year and being left disappointed, this is something we’ve wanted to achieve since the start of the season. It’ll be a massive privilege for us to win this trophy, and we’ll be giving it our all on Sunday.”
