Southern League leaders, Basingstoke Town, dramatically knocked Premier League Southampton Saints out of the Hampshire Cup on penalties on Sunday, so we found out more from manager Rob Quilter.
SK: Can you tell us a little of your footballing history?
RQ: I have been coaching since I was 18. Was previously coaching at Newport County FC’s academy and now work at Chelsea FC’s Foundation. I have been at Basingstoke Town Ladies for almost 2 years.
SK: How was the match and what were the goals like?
RQ: It was an exciting game, very quick and was a great experience. Our first goal was a penalty, of which I had no doubts Ayala [Truelove] would score. Our second was a bit of a scramble but Katie [Randell] was in the right place at the right time to put it away. Not the prettiest of goals but we’ll take it!
Pictured – Basingstoke Town 1sts and Reserves.
SK: Were there many volunteers for the penalties and how did they go?
RQ: I had several girls put themselves forward straight away, which made it a lot easier to choose. All I had to do then was decide the order. We had practised penalties in training not long ago and I thought our penalties were taken really well. Erin [Davis-Donne] pulled off some great saves in goal, including their first penalty which put us in a good position from the start.
SK: How satisfying was it to defeat a Premier League side?
RQ: Of course it feels great to win against a good team like Saints but the most pleasing thing was that the girls didn’t let their heads go down after conceding first in the game and also Saints scoring in injury time to take it to penalties. It shows the great characters we have here.
SK: How is your Southern League campaign going?
RQ: We’ve had a brilliant first half of the season, but as I keep saying to the girls, there’s a long way to go and we now have a target on our backs. With a long way to go, there are still several teams who are trying to catch us.
SK: What would it mean to win promotion to the FAWPL?
RQ: It would be great for the whole club and I would be very pleased for all the players who have put in so much time and effort since I’ve been here.
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