Captain Kel's Corner: by Aberystwyth Town Women captain, Kelly Thomas

The Adran Premier, unlike the men’s Welsh Premier League, has a break for Christmas, and it is always a well needed rest and a chance to relax and enjoy the festive period. But it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. “Why not?” you ask. Well, let me first set the scene.

You’ve had a great Christmas, with plenty of food and drink. If you haven’t been at a local football match, you’ve been watching football on television. You are, as they say, living your best life.

Then BANG! Group chat - details of the first training session back. The fear is real, and you know pre-season 2.0 is upon us. The festive feeling is officially over and fluffy socks swapped for football boots... if you can even find them.

Although it’s been tough, it’s been great to catch up with everyone. There are three tough games left to play in this phase of the league and two cups to play for. We know that if we want something to show for this season, we need to work our socks off, and the girls are raring to go!

Due to our game against Cardiff Met on Sunday being postponed, a handful of us first-teamers made the trip down to Cardiff City last Friday night to get some minutes in with the under-19s. We returned victorious, winning 3-2 and ending their unbeaten run of 11 games.

It was great to be able to help get the girls three points on the road - and I got to take my brand new personalised shin pads that I got for Christmas for their very first run out!

Looking forward to seeing you all back at Park Avenue for a 2pm kick-off on Sunday in our Adran Trophy quarter-final clash against Wrexham!

In association with ATWFC, https://www.atfc.org.uk/women.html