Tough for Pompey Ladies to plan ahead

Ini Umotong scored eight in the previous round of the county cup

The Hampshire FA Challenge Cup tie at Shanklin has now been postponed twice.

That means the Blues have been unable to build on their excellent 2-0 win against Cardiff in the FA Cup – currently their only match of 2016 so far.

It has already had an impact on Pompey’s league schedule.

The county cup still takes priority over league games and so the Lewes match had to be cancelled on Sunday in order to attempt to get the Shanklin game played.

Sadly that didn’t happen with the pitch on the Isle of Wight waterlogged again.

Pompey don’t want to get too far behind their rivals in terms of matches played in the FA Premier League southern division.

They also have the FA Cup tie with Aston Villa to think about on Sunday, February 7.

It would have been ideal to go into that match with a couple of good testing league games under their belt in the weeks leading up to it.

That would have given Pompey an edge on the match sharpness, with Super League side Villa currently in their pre-season.

The postponements are certainly making it challenging for manager Perry Northeast to plan his schedule.

He said: ‘We’ve fallen behind a bit with our league fixtures already due to the postponements.

‘It is really frustrating, when the games are called off the season gets muddled up

‘It seems like we have this situation at this time every year and every year I call for more 3G pitches.

‘The postponements make it hard to plan the month of January and we have some big matches coming up.

‘Training all the time is difficult.

‘It makes it a little bit tricky for everyone to keep the focus.’

After two postponements the county cup tie has now been switched to Pompey Ladies.

It will be played on Thursday at Furze Lane (7.15pm).

That also means Northeast’s side can take on Forest Green Rovers on Sunday in the league.

Northeast said: ‘Shanklin have been good to us.

‘It means we can play our league match against Forest Green Rovers on Sunday.’

In the second round of the Hampshire Challenge Cup the Blues thrashed AFC Stoneham 18-0 in November.

Striker Ini Umotong cashed in with eight goals and Katie George netted five.

Natasha Stevens, Paige Atkinson, Lucy Quinn and Sarah Kempson also scored, with an own goal completing the tally.

Isle of Wight side Shanklin booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win at Warsash Wasps in the second round.