HIDDEN GEMS: Five scorers, four debuts, one teen dream. But no visibility.

Leigh Sports Village is a long way from Oxfordshire, but with a free Sunday and no other way to watch Manchester United’s Fourth Round fixture with Burnley, Clare McEwen and family made the six-hour round trip to enjoy the magic of the FA Cup.

They were rewarded with debuts, first goals, and obviously, the Manchester rain.

The magic of the FA Cup Fourth Round. 

Major meets minor.

Women’s Super League (WSL) meets Women’s National League (WNL). 

Gather round the TV to spot stars of the future and witness a possible early upset.

Oh, hang on, what’s that? Most of the games aren’t being shown on TV? Wait, what!?

That’s right, if you wanted to watch the Adobe Women’s FA Cup this weekend, you generally had to be at the ground.

Only four out of the 16 games were live on TV and only one of these was also free-to-air. You couldn’t even watch current cup holders Chelsea take on Crystal Palace, again, unless you were there. Or Man City. Or Spurs. Or the truly magical FA Cup tie: Chatham Town v York City.

A rain-soaked Leigh Sports Village/Progress with Unity Stadium was not host to a classic. And it wasn’t part of a giant killing. But it did witness a little bit of United history as debuts and firsts delighted most of the 2,800-odd crowd.

Welcoming in the first game of the New Year at LSV were full United debuts for new arrivals Lea Schüller (below, right) and Hanna Lundkvist. The new names on the team sheet (including two subs, who we’ll get to later) were given a rapturous welcome, although the loudest cheer was reserved for the long-awaited return of Millie Turner.

Marc Skinner fielded a strong starting XI because their third tier opponents, Burnley, are an ambitious side. They turned fully professional in the summer and are currently pushing for promotion to WSL2 next season. Currently second in WNL’s Northern Premier Division, they hadn’t lost a game so far this season and have found the back of the net on 23 occasions in three games in the FA Cup. They weren’t to be underestimated.

If this led to any Manchester United nerves inside LSV they were soon settled: Maya Le Tissier (below, left) thumped home a banger within 90 seconds of kick-off. Urged from 30 yards out to shoot by the United contingent, the captain obliged and slammed a potential goal of the season into the top corner.

The pace of passing and moving from United quickly educated Burnley on the gap between tiers 1 and 3, as the visitors’ defence was battered over and over.

After 21 minutes Julia Zigiotti (above, centre) scored her first United goal, firing into the bottom corner from a partially cleared cross. 

The next “first” came at 35 minutes when Simi Awujo scored her first United goal: a beauty, bent into the corner. Melvine Malard then hit the bar and Awujo nearly added another with a thunderous strike that nearly broke Burnley’s goalkeeper, Kirstie Levell, in two – I’m sure once the pain wore off, she was pretty pleased with the stop.

Before half-time, Burnley nearly got one back with the ball bobbling dangerously around the box, drawing intakes of breath from the crowd. There was a collective sigh of relief on and off the pitch when Phallon Tullis-Joyce managed to get hold of it.

Half-time arrived and my husband went off in search of hot chocolates and pies to warm us up. We were mostly disappointed. There was no hot food left and the hot chocolates at LSV aren’t great, unless you bring your own spoon. A rummage around my bag of wonder found a Sharpie that doubled as a stirrer, and made them just about drinkable.

I’d only just managed to get the chocolate powder dissolved in the water when the teams were back out and United hit the back of the net again. Another first was chalked up as Dominique Janssen’s perfect ball sailed across the face of the goal to be met by Lea Schüller’s head. The United newcomer opened her account with a perfectly-placed header.

Jess Park made way for the newest of the new United signings as Ellen Wangerheim made her debut on the hour mark. Changes all over the pitch also meant a senior debut for youngster, Layla Drury. Within 10 minutes of coming on, the 16-year-old winger scored her first senior goal. A wonderful through ball from Hinata Miyazawa saw space (and a lot of time to think) open up for Drury. The youngster, showing maturity and composure well beyond her years, steadied herself as the keeper came out and banged it into the back of the net. As you can imagine, most of LSV leapt to its feet to celebrate with her as she sealed the 5-0 win.

Although around 100 travelling Burnley fans in the corner of the ground were vocal throughout, they didn’t get much to cheer aside from a couple of counter attacks. But they did witness a bucketload of United firsts, which is more than the wider fan pool could.

We’ve already established that visibility matters. But this was invisibility. Except for the 2,835 people in the stadium.