We reached the Fifth Round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup with a dominant 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Mangata Developments Stadium.
The Villains frustrated us throughout the first half, with goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck making two fantastic saves to deny Alessia Russo either side of Beth Mead rattling the crossbar.
But a strong start to the second half saw us convert our dominance into goals, as Kim Little first set up Stina Blackstenius for the opener before netting the second herself to secure our place in the last 16.
### First HALF
We made a fast start at Mangata Developments Stadium and almost led after nine minutes when Stina Blackstenius' cross deflected just wide of the post off Miri Taylor.
Midway through the first half, we were forced into an early change, as the injured Emily Fox was replaced by January signing Smilla Holmberg, and our new full-back made an immediate impact, driving down the right wing and picking out Alessia Russo, whose header was saved well by Ellie Roebuck.
Villa had their best chance of the half a few minutes later through Maya Hijikata, who latched onto a cross from close range but couldn't keep her header down.
Beth Mead came closest to opening the scoring in the first 45 as her cross-turned-shot looped over Roebuck and struck the crossbar, before the Villains managed to clear the ball from the following scramble in front of goal.
We had two more chances to open the scoring before the break, but Russo forced another strong save from Roebuck and Mead struck the side netting from a tight angle, before getting back to make an excellent challenge on Rachel Maltby to deny the Villa midfielder at the other end.
### second half
Lotte Wubben-Moy twice came close to getting the opening goal in the first two minutes of the second half, forcing another Roebuck save from McCabe's corner before heading Russo's cross from the opposite flank just wide.
We got our breakthrough a few minutes later though when Kim Little charged into the penalty area and pulled it back for Stina Blackstenius, who found the bottom corner from six yards out.
Having set up the opening goal, our captain was then on hand to tap home a rebound and double our lead ten minutes later after Villa failed to clear a corner.
We continued to control the game throughout the second half, with substitute Caitlin Foord twice coming close to netting a third.
Blackstenius had the best chance of the closing stages, and although her effort was placed wide, our two-goal cushion proved enough to comfortably take us through.
### fifth round
Our victory this afternoon takes us through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, where we join the other 15 winners from this weekend's ties.
The draw for the last 16 takes place on Monday, January 19, where we will be ball number 6, with ties scheduled to take place on the weekend of February 21-22.
### What's next
We're back at Meadow Park for a 7pm kick-off on Wednesday, January 21 against Manchester United in the semi-final of the Subway Women's League Cup.
We then travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in a Women's Super League London derby on Saturday, January 24 at 12:30 pm.
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