Colchester United will face a stern challenge when they attempt to defend the Essex Women's Cup against West Ham United at Maldon Town F.C. this weekend, but manager Howard Mackler maintains: “We will dig deep and give ourselves the best possible chance.

Hammers set for U's test

COLCHESTER United will face a stern challenge when they attempt to defend the Essex Women's Cup against West Ham United at Maldon Town this weekend, but manager Howard Mackler maintains: “We will dig deep and give ourselves the best possible chance.”

The Wallace Binder Ground will be the centre stage for female football in Essex on Sunday, kick-off 2pm, as Mackler's sixth-placed FA Tesco Premier League outfit come up against their Southern Division rivals of three places higher, and the U's boss will lead his team into the game full of confidence. “I've been involved in a couple of finals already where we matched supposedly better teams and on one occasion we could only be split by our opposition taking better penalties,” he explained of Galleywood's shoot-out defeat in the 2005 Premier Cup Final on the men's side of the game.