It has already been an unforgettable season for The New Saints, but they want more success before the campaign ends.
After failing to make the Genero Adran Premier top four last season, the Saints recruited well over the summer and have secured a place in the Championship Conference, as well as lifting the Genero Adran Trophy for the first time ever.
Tiggy Webb was one of the new faces who came in at Park Hall last summer and she says the club have done an incredible job at creating a strong identity.
Bute Energy Welsh Cup semi-finals
‘We want to create a legacy at The New Saints’
“The target from the beginning was to finish inside the top four and to come away with some silverware, and we’re doing exactly that. I think we can do a little more even now. The club have done their recruitment well and have hit the nail on the head with what they want to do.
“We’ve thought about who and what we want to be as a team, and we’ve done exactly that by creating our own legacy and our own TNS. We want to be a team that no one wants to play, and a team people fear.”
Despite the high of lifting their first trophy last month, the Saints have started Phase Two in the Genero Adran Premier with back-to-back defeats, but Webb says there is no panic whatsoever in the team.
“Everyone around the team is still in good spirits, but this is just a little blip. It happens to everyone in every season, and our blip has just happened now.
“We had such a good start to the season, and heading into phase two we knew a blip was coming, but we didn’t expect it to happen now. However, our confidence hasn’t dropped, nothing has changed in what we want to do and achieve.”
The perfect way to get over a blip is to record a semi-final win in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup, and the Saints have a perfect opportunity to do just that this weekend against Cardiff City.
Shauna Duffy’s side have already knocked City out of the Genero Adran Trophy this season, and Webb believes they can do the same again in the Welsh Cup.
“We expect them to play the way that they usually do, which is fast, players rotating positionally, and being confident on the ball. But we’ve knocked them out of one cup before, so why not do it again.
“It gives us a huge boost knowing what happened when we beat them in the Adran Trophy. From there we went and beat Swansea City 3-1, and we outplayed them hugely in that final, and I think we can do it again this time to Cardiff. There’s nothing to say we can’t.”
‘Cardiff City will have a lot more fight about them’
While TNS have had a big change this season, so have Sunday’s opponents. City said goodbye to a lot of experience, and Webb says there is a noticeable difference between last season and this current one.
Yet, the former Met defender believes when it comes down to it, her side still have a lot more fight.
“This Cardiff team are a lot younger, have a lot of energy, and have a lot more fight about them, but so do we. Our whole team is full of fight. They are certainly different to what they were last season, in the fact they are willing to fight for everything until the last minute, but we do the same. I wouldn’t doubt us at all, and if anything, I would put us above them.”
TNS have an incredible chance on Sunday to write another incredible chapter in their story. A win would give them a chance to complete a domestic cup double, something that would cap off the perfect debut season for Webb and Co.
“It would be fantastic to lift another trophy. Every player’s goal is to lift silverware. For this team, we’ve created a legacy by going to one final and winning it, and we want to carry on that legacy by winning another one. It would mean the world to all of us. For me personally, if I was able to win both trophies in my first season at the club, what more could I ask for?”
