Barnsley FC Ladies are hoping to emulate the men's team last season with two cup wins after they beat local rivals Sheffield United 3-0 in their Sheffield FA Women's Senior Cup semi-final.
The Reds – who netted three goals between 72 and 75 minutes against the Blades – will now take on Huddersfield at Parkgate FC on March 28 in a rematch of last season's final which the Oakwell club won 5-3 to claim the cup for the first time in their history.
Barnsley are due to face Farsley Celtic this weekend in the quarter-final of the League Cup, and manager Ian Clark is hopeful that his side can emulate the men's team who won twice at Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the League One play-off final in 2016.
"It would be nice to win two finals and emulate the men's side last season," said Clark, whose side are also second in the North East Regional League.
"Huddersfield will want revenge over us. They play two leagues above us but it is about who performs better on the day. We will need a bit of luck as well.
"We organised a friendly against Bradford who are in Huddersfield's league and we are planning to watch them live and on video. We can definitely take confidence from beating them last season and to win that cup twice in a row would be fantastic.
"It's a great period for the club at the moment and we just want to win as many trophies and promotions as we can."
The Ladies have been based at Oakwell for two years, training there and also staging their senior side's matches on the Reds' under 23s pitch. Clark said: "The support from the club has been good. We have just agreed a deal to play there for another two seasons. We are under their umbrella now, we have changed our name to Barnsley FC Ladies and we have a page in the programme and news on their website.
"Hopefully we can build on that in the future. Ideally we would have a couple of our games on the first team pitch every season and hopefully that is something we can agree.
"Ben Mansford (former chief executive) was a big supporter of women's football and the community side of things. He was very important in us moving to Oakwell and strengthening ties with the club. Obviously he has gone now and there is no chief executive at the moment so it's all a bit up in the air."
There is also a connection between the Ladies and Barnsley's head coach Paul Heckingbottom as his daughter Marcie plays for the under 13s. Clark said: "I know Paul well and he's been a great help. He is easy to talk to and always at the other end of the phone. He and his staff have helped us a lot with technical equipment and analysis to improve our players. They are very accommodating."
The first 72 minutes against Sheffield United were goalless, with Reds goalkeeper Bryony Hudson making a fine save while the home side also had several chances in front of a crowd of around 150. The deadlock was broken when Holly Findlay latched onto a pass by Drew Greene and smashed the ball into the top right corner.
The Reds doubled their lead within seconds as Rebecca Wilson won the ball back from the kick-off then Danielle Lowe played a superb pass over the top of the Blades defence to player of the match Findlay who rounded the goalkeeper and scored. Amy Woodruff got the third after a fine throughball from Kathryn Smith. Hudson made some good saves to secure the clean sheet and a place in the final.
Clark said: "We played really well. Our performances recently have been a bit indifferent but we really stepped it up against a good side. They were a very physical side and made it tough for us in the first half but we got to grips with it, made some changes at half-time and then played a lot better in the second half and scored some good goals."
As well as their two cup campaigns, the Reds are hoping to claim the automatic promotion spot in the North East Regional League. They are currently six points behind leaders Norton and Stockton Ancients with both sides having four games left to play. Clark believes Barnsley need to win all their games, including the trip to Norton scheduled for April 2, and hope their title rivals lose another match.
He said: "We just have to hope that Norton slip up. "They have got a tough game against Castleford on a poor pitch and then we have to play them as well. We're not giving up on winning the title yet but, if we miss out, then we will go again next season."
