Manager Duncan Rumbelow believes that his women’s amputee players put ‘Cambridge City on the map’ during their weekend double-header against the Polish national team.

Poland is widely regarded as one of the most advanced amputee football nations, with some of the best players in the world making up their squad.

In contrast, City only launched training sessions for female players earlier this year, and their friendly fixtures with the Poles represented the team’s first-ever matches.

And yet, Rumbelow was left with nothing but pride after watching his side more than hold their own. On Saturday, they battled out a 1-1 draw, while Sunday saw them give another good account during a 3-1 defeat.

Rumbelow said: “The whole weekend was absolutely fantastic.

“We certainly didn’t underestimate the Polish team. Really, there is no such thing as a friendly, so we knew what to expect.

“We were the underdogs, and that helped us. The pressure was on them because they’ve got a World Cup coming up, and they would have probably seen these two matches as a chance to boost confidence levels.

“But we definitely caused a surprise. In the 1-1 draw, we outperformed them in every area. We put together a game plan, the players stuck to it, and it really was an outstanding performance.

“The Sunday game was more difficult, and that came down to squad depth. Poland were able to rotate their players around, but we don’t have that luxury just yet.

“It was tough, but it was still such a good experience for the players to see the levels required.

“We asked so much of the players because the majority of them played both games.

“I hope when they look back and reflect on the weekend that they feel incredibly proud of themselves because I’m very proud of what they’ve done.

“They’ve certainly put Cambridge City on the map, and it couldn’t really have gone any better.”

The squad will now take a short break, with the next training session set to take place in late November.

More long term, City are hoping to enter into a women’s league that will see them play fixtures at home and in Poland. And Rumbelow is confident that the squad will have been further strengthened by the time that campaign gets underway.

He added: “We’ll have a little break because the whole community has been fantastic, and they allowed these two matches to happen.

“We’ll do our next coaching session, and from there will then look at more recruitment.

“We’ve had players from other European countries reach out and express an interest in joining the club because they don’t have the opportunities to play in their country.

“If I were a player and I’d watched those two games against Poland, I’d want to join what we’re building.

“We do need a more competitive squad. We’ve got a good mix of players at the moment, but for those that have just started, we don’t want to scare them off by putting them into something too quickly.”