Pools Women have their eyes on further FA Cup progress on
Sunday when they host Blackburn Community at East Durham College in Peterlee
Having already eased past Carlisle United and Yorkshire Amateur in the prestigious competition this term, Pools are now just two wins away from the First Round Proper.
Standing in their way this weekend is a Blackburn Community side who are currently sixth in the North West Regional Women's League Division One North, though they have played fewer games than many of their rivals.
Pools have scored an eye-watering 16 goals in their previous two ties to reach this stage – the Second Qualifying Round – but boss Jonathan Gibbon-Hayes does not expect an easy game on Sunday.
“It will be a very tough fixture for us but I am hoping that
home advantage will count for a lot and we'd love to see a few Pools fans there
to support us,” he commented.“It's a quick turnaround for us because we only played the
last round a fortnight ago but we're delighted to be involved in this famous
competition and we want to keep it going.”Gibbon-Hayes has the luxury of a fully-fit squad to choose
from as he plans for Sunday's game – though he has admitted that the strength in
numbers brings about its own problems.“It's becoming really difficult to pick a 16 at the moment
with the quality we have in the squad but we'll need to make some difficult
decisions this weekend.“Having no game last weekend wasn't ideal because it didn't
give us a chance to build momentum after our 5-0 win over Yorkshire Amateur but
we are really looking forward to getting back in to action on Sunday.”The game at East Durham College in Peterlee kicks-off at 2pmand entry is free for all supporters.