Another away draw, another regional premiership side and another win. The Owls once again have taken the scalp of a team that is ranked higher than them in the football pyramid. After the success at Cardiff 2 weeks ago, Wednesday were once again drawn away, this time against Rochdale who play in the Northern Premiership. Playing away is obviously doing them a favour as this the fifth FA cup game in a row that they have won on their travels. After racking up over 1100 miles on their travels to date playing away in the cup certainly favours the Owls, and whilst Smallman and Maslin await the cup draw secretly they are hoping for another away tie. Through to the last 8, which now increases to 16 due to the WSL teams entering the competition, this is the furthest The Owls have reached in this cup which is a great feat in itself.
The game started on a windy, rainy day with the girls still upbeat after the Cardiff result. Smallman had a full squad to pick from with the addition of new signing Amanda Barr. The first 10 minutes were mainly Rochdale and with the wind holding up the ball there were a few chances from both sides. The first shot came from keeper Maslin who received a back pass and launched the ball the full length of the pitch and the bounce nearly caught out the Rochdale keeper who managed to catch it at full stretch. Confidence started growing within the squad and some fluid passing was getting the Owls into some good positions. The breakthrough came on 20 minutes when Gingell played a delightful through ball that dissected the Rochdale centre backs and Barr was in a race with the keeper. They both arrived at the same time with the ball rebounding to Rachel Skeemer who delivered a delightful cross box ball for Hollie Barker to run onto to slam home. 1 - 0 Owls. This put Rochdale on the back foot and they regathered and started pressing the Owls defence. 7 minutes later the pressure paid off with a goal to make the game all square. 1 - 1. It was end to end stuff with long range shots for the next 10 minutes, with both keepers making comfortable saves. Skeemer could have put some more space between the teams when she went one on one with the keeper, but shot it straight at the goalkeeper who made a good save. At 37 minutes a foul on a Wednesday player 25 yards out, Gingell placed the ball centrally. After words of encouragement from the technical area Gingell unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top left with the keeper motionless. 2 - 1 Owls HT.
Rochdale changed their formation at the beginning of the 2nd half and reverted to a 4 4 2 to counter the Wednesday break and for 30 minutes both sides could have scored, the next goal would definitely be crucial. Smallman bought of the tiring Bailey and replaced her with Laura Windle with the instruction to run at the opposition. It was now getting very tense, and a Rochdale break away left their striker one on one with Maslin. As the striker shot Maslin dived and saved with her feet, the ball rebounded to a Wednesday player and the counter attack started, the ball was slung out wide right and a ball into the middle of the box found Windle on the far post who finished delightfully with her head. 3 - 1 Owls. There was still 5 minutes to go and Wednesday played them out. The final whistle went and the celebrations began.
Smallman commented " I have been in football a long time and this must rank as one of the best days in my career, to come away again and play against on paper a more superior team and beat them is testament to everything I have tried to achieve at Wednesday. The girls work rate, commitment, and I must say my substitution (lol) were all the right ingredients for a great day out. Our preparation is key to what we are doing in the cup this year and it is now starting to pay dividends. I must also say thank you to Ben Severns who not only coaches Danni Maslin but also assists me greatly with day to day coaching. It was a massive squad effort"
An absolutely delighted Chairman Jeff Maslin remarked “What these last 2 ties have shown me is that the team is ready for the next step, promotion. They have the right mentality, skill level and most importantly a manager who prepares them in the way a team should be prepared. This is definitely the highlight of my 3 years as Chairman and the journey home will be, shall I say, fun. Adam and myself have spoken about who we want in the next round, as long as it is away I am not bothered. A WSL team would be nice for all the girls hard work but whoever we play we will be underdogs and that suits us"
Full Time Rochdale 1 - SWWFC 3 (Barker, Gingell, Windle)
Team - Maslin, Severns, Hobson-Donohoe, Burke, Bratton, Barker, Gingell, Nutter, Bailey (Windle), Barr, Skeemer - Subs not used Henton, O'Hara, Mullen, Reade
The draw for the 5th round has seen Wednesday land a home tie against Women’s Super League side Bristol Academy FC and this is scheduled to take place at Sandy Lane on Sunday 13th March.