The stage was set at the Nationwide Windows Arena as FA Women’s National League side Rugby Borough hosted WSL side Liverpool in the fifth round tie of the FA Cup.
Lee Burch’s Borough enjoyed the thrills of the FA Cup, enjoying every moment of the experience pre-match as they looked to impress in front of the sell-out crowd.
The visitors made seven changes from their last cup game, with new winter signing Alejandra Bernabé making her debut for the Reds.
The home side stuck to their fully strengthened squad, with the ever present captain Ebony Wiseman leading the way for Borough.
Rugby Borough started positively, heading straight into the press; however Liverpool dominated possession in early spells of the game. The first clear cut chance for the Reds came from captain Taylor Hinds who saw her shot neatly blocked.
The home side were resolute in defence with Bethan Roberts and Kelis Barton as Katy Morris and Alanta Brown looked to win their battles in midfield.
With the crowd in full force following an Angelina Nixon chance, Birch’s side had a foothold in the game.
Liverpool found it difficult to break the deadlock as Borough were well structured in the spine of the squad with leader Georgia Robert commanding her defence.
Changes were made for the second half by both sides as Marie Therese Höbinger and Mia Enderby came on for the visitors, Rhianne Rush and Saskia Morris entered play for the home side.
Borough were dealt with a big blow early on as sub Rhianne Rush picked up an injury and was forced to be taken off in what were discouraging signs.
Angelina Nixon looked to use her trickery to drive forward and found her shot saved, with a golden opportunity to put Rugby Borough in the lead.
Despite Borough’s resilience in defence, the biggest chance of the second half came from forward Leanne Kiernan who came on and struck the upright in the box.
Beard’s side finally managed to break down the Borough defence with a wonderful strike from Austrian international Marie Therese Höbinger around the 85th minute.
The crowd urged their side to push for an equaliser however fatigue kicked in, as a searching ball over the top found Mia Enderby who struck home the second to seal the deal at the very end for the away side.
The final whistle blew and roars of pride rang round the stadium in support of Rugby Borough and their hard-fought performance against a tough opponent.
Rugby Borough manager Lee Burch spoke post-game and summed up the remarkable cup run.
He said: ‘’It’s been a really strong cup run, every team we’ve come up against we’ve treated exactly the same.’’
‘’There’s been some really impressive performances en route to getting to this point. We wanted to get a step further than what we did last year.’’
‘’We put a really good account of ourselves. Every year is about building on what you’ve learnt from the previous year and we definitely did that with this cup run.’’
Featured Image courtesy of RB Media/ RBWFC