Clapton CFC bowed out of the Women’s FA Cup with a heavy defeat at a quick and clinical AFC Sudbury.
After victories at Romford Town and Histon in the Cup thus far, CCFC faced a further step up in quality with a visit to Suffolk to play the side at tier 4, two levels higher than us.
An early Emily Link shot gave hope of another cup upset, but Sudbury quickly snuffed that out with three goals in the first 15 minutes. Faith Harrison scored the first for The Suds on seven minutes, Sophie Jeffery netted on 14 then it was Harrison again on the score sheet a minute later.
It was 5-0 by the half-hour mark, with goals from Megan Edwards and Harrison who completed her hat-trick. Jeffery and Harrison each scored again before half-time, making it 7-0.
It was a closer game in the second half, but Sudbury added further goals in the 56th minute from Amy-Leigh Abrehart and on 84th minutes through Frankie Pim to round off an emphatic 9–0 win.
Clapton kept fighting with Marta Casanovas twice going close and Emily Link forcing a save. Keeper Ella Bowles made several excellent stops while defenders Lenny Holmes and Julia Moulton made last-ditch clearances.
Having not got carried away after winning 12-0 in the league last week, no one will over-react to this result either.
For the Clapton players and the fans who made the long trek, it was a disappointing but not wholly unexpected end to our FA Cup campaign. Although it was our best run in the competition since that 2021/22 season, earning £5800 in prize money, it arguably lacked a good home tie (or at least an away tie within reasonable travel distance of East London).
The team are still in two cup competitions – the Capital Cup, which has yet to be drawn, and the League Cup away against Hastings United, which is on Sunday.
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