Women’s FA Cup: talking points from the weekend’s fourth-round action
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Vivianne Miedema and Lauren James return from injury as Villa hit nine and Cheltenham’s historic run comes to an end. It has been a turbulent two years for Vivianne Miedema since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament. Knee issues have plagued her return to full fitness, the latest of which had ruled her out since October. Her 30-minute cameo in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Ipswich saw her back among the goals, a timely return with the continued absence of Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a solid victory for Gareth Taylor’s side against a resilient Ipswich who are unbeaten in the FAWNL Southern Division. A rare outing for Laura Coombs saw her get on the scoresheet too while Jill Roord opened her account for 2025. SD.
![[Jill Baijings rounds off the rout of Bristol Rovers with Aston Villa’s ninth goal]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c155d116511d33cffd72d435180c47ecc5d47b45/0_0_3849_2567/master/3849.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Aston Villa romped into the fifth round courtesy of a nine-goal rout of the FAWNL Division One South West side Bristol Rovers. The forward Gabi Nunes scored a first hat-trick for the home team and Rachel Daly added two as Villa had six different names on the scoresheet, going three goals up inside eight minutes. The Dutch midfielder Jill Baijings put the cherry on top, scoring Villa’s ninth on her debut after a lengthy spell out through injury after joining from Bayern Munich on loan. SW.
![[Mai Moncaster celebrates scoring Rugby Borough’s third goal against London Bees]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ac5528dbf013ca9d15f1f4227804fdf6874fd1df/0_0_3914_2609/master/3914.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Wolves eventually broke down a stubborn Cheltenham side in an all-FAWNL Premier Division encounter to ensure they will at least equal last season’s achievement of reaching the fifth round. The experience of Dan McNamara’s side eventually shone through thanks to goals from the in-form Amber Hughes and Beth Merrick. It was a result that ended Cheltenham’s historic cup run in front of more than 500 fans at Kayte Lane. This was the first time Tom Davies and his team had reached the fourth round, another sign of the progress the Gloucestershire side have made in recent seasons. SD.
![[Jasmine McQuade scores]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9b1575739195f5d2fa212a5763d2a30b1bcd67c3/0_0_4431_3053/master/4431.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
