We travelled to Sunderland to sit down with FA Cup Ballers of the Round, Eleanor Dale and Ellen Jones. Both Ellen and Eleanor both scored hatricks against Exeter City to ensure their side went through to the fifth round proper.

Sunderland take on Portsmouth on Sunday 9th Feb.

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SAB: When the game was finally over what emotions did you feel?

Eleanor: Happy that we’d got through to the next round. It was a professional performance from the team. On paper, Exeter might look like a nice draw, but it always has the potential to be a ‘banana skin’ type of game, but we conducted ourselves really well.

Ellen: Buzzing to help the team and get through to the next of the cup. 

SAB: What does playing in the FA Cup mean to you?

Eleanor: The FA Cup is a really special tournament, growing up watching it and seeing how much the Women’s FA Cup has advanced in the past couple of years. I sometimes imagine getting to the final and being able to play at Wembley – that would be amazing. It’s a great competition, giving ourselves the chance to play against better teams and better opposition.

Ellen: It’s a prestigious tournament that I look forward to each year and it’s another opportunity to showcase myself and us as a team. 

SAB: What was your favourite moment from the game?

Eleanor: Building up confidence! Our first attack, we scored and then I scored two goals in quick concession. As a striker, with the first game back after Christmas, getting the ball in the back of the net and having a real feel for that was amazing.

Ellen: It’s got to be scoring my third goal to complete my hat trick. 

SAB: How did it feel scoring a hat-trick against Exeter?

Eleanor: It was great! As a striker you obviously want to score goals, so scoring a hat-trick’s nice and getting a match ball as memorabilia is a nice little thing to keep.

Ellen: It felt amazing. It’s my first professional hat trick, so I was buzzing. 

SAB: How do you stay composed in big games? Any tips for young players for dealing with nerves?

Eleanor: Once you step on the pitch, just knowing that is all that matters in that moment. Nerves are okay – I get nervous before every game and that just shows that I care. So being able to control that and, once you step over that white line, all that matters is however long you’ve got to play. 

Ellen: To focus on the basics and I’ll just keep in mind what I have to do to help out the team and that helps me. 

SAB: What would be your dream opposition to face in the cup?

Eleanor: Any big team, like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal. Just playing against world-class players and being able to challenge ourselves.

Ellen:  I’d probably say Man City at home because it was the team I made my first professional start against, so I’d want to play them in the FA Cup. 

SAB: What is the hardest thing about being a footballer that people don’t see on the outside?

Eleanor: It is our job, it’s a constant whereas, when you’re playing at a lower level for an RTC or grassroots you can switch off from it because you do it as a hobby.

Now it’s our everyday life and you have to deal with a lot of emotional, as well as physical things in football. You can be physically tired from the game at the weekend but also emotionally it’s really hard to deal with if you’ve had an injury or you haven’t played well at the weekend.

Ellen: Probably that outside of training, as in, you have to balance everything – recovery, nutrition, gym.  

SAB: If you could change one thing about the women’s game what would it be and why?

Eleanor: The women’s game has come a long way, but I would say more investment in facilities and coaching staff. Ultimately, that’s what’s going to keep the women’s game progressing.

Ellen: I’d change the number of teams that increase the sizes of the league, so that we can play more games every season. 

SAB: How does it feel to be baller of the round?

Eleanor: It’s a great feeling, I just wanted to help my team out, and to get this accolade to go with it.

Ellen: It feels unreal – it’s a great personal achievement. 

SAB: How far do you think Sunderland can go this season?

Eleanor: We have had a good run in the FA Cup and we’ve got Portsmouth coming up, so I think that we can get a good result out of that game and hopefully keep progressing.

Ultimately, it’s up to us what we want to achieve. Defensively we’ve been more solid in the last couple of games, so if we can keep being solid and also keep being clinical and have good quality on the attack then there’s no reason why we can’t get promoted!

Ellen: We’ve shown that we are capable of going as far as we possibly can. We’ve got a good team and I think we can go for promotion, which is our aim.