AFC Bournemouth Women’s away game against Southampton FC in the Hampshire FA Cup has been cancelled, due to the home side withdrawing from the competition.
The Boscombe side will instead play Maidenhead in the league, in a 2pm kick off at Burnham FC’s 1878 Stadium. A win could see them go one point behind league leaders Swindon, with five games in hand.
The fixture cancellation didn’t come as a complete surprise to Cherries boss Steve Cuss: “We got a little indication on Tuesday that perhaps the game wasn’t going ahead. Official confirmation came through on Thursday to say that they’d given notification that they were withdrawing from the Cup.”
This allowed Cuss to uniquely prepare for both games during the week: “We’ve given players double information this week a little bit in terms of what to expect and what we might be going ahead.
I think the most important thing is the players are just looking forward to playing. It’s been over a month now since we’ve last had our last game. You can feel the excitement for us to get back out on the pitch.”
The last time Bournemouth played Maidenhead it was nothing short of a demolition job as they eased past the Magpies 9-0 at home. Cuss dubbed this as “one of [their] best performances of the season” and he will be hoping they can replicate this.
The second round of the Hampshire FA Cup is scheduled for February 16th, with the draw taking place shortly after this weekend’s round of fixtures.
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