Gillingham Women’s manager Josh Oatham has spoken of his pride in the team despite a heavy cup defeat on Sunday.

Super League side Arsenal won the Women’s FA Cup fourth round match against Gillingham 10-0.

The full-time Arsenal side - the most successful women’s team in English football - were just too strong for a Gills team who are still building something following their break from the men’s set-up at Priestfield.

Their manager is keen to see that journey progress.

“I am proud of the group,” said Oatham, after the match. “We knew the test was going to be daunting and you look at what Arsenal do to teams in their own league.

“We expected it to be tough and they fielded a very strong side, it probably surprised us a bit to see how strong it was, but we knew they had the ability to do that so we prepared for the worst case scenario.”

Gillingham were up against it early on, conceding the first goal after eight minutes through Arsenal’s Jill Roord. With 22 minutes on the clock they were five down.

The Gunners were six goals ahead at the interval and added another four in the second half.

Oatham added: “The day wasn’t about the result. Of course we wanted to give it a go and to make Kent proud and try and get a result but for us it was about the journey we have been on and this was the next stage of our development.

“The players have now got a taste of it and hopefully they can use it next season. We want to be successful and we want to push on, that has been the most exciting thing for me. The club has grown so much in the last eight or nine months.

“The cup run has brought us all so close together and I am extremely proud of that.”