John Salomon believes Watford Ladies' younger players will benefit from the experience of having played top-class opposition, despite being on the end of a 6-0 defeat at Chelsea Ladies in the fifth round of the FA Women’s Cup.

The Blues eased through to a quarter-final clash with holders Arsenal Ladies thanks to a Marija Banusic hat-trick and further goals from Ji So-Yun, Gemma Davison and Millie Bright as the Golden Girls finished the game with almost half of their team aged 18 or under.

“It’s tough when you come up against a team like Chelsea because they’ve got world class quality in every area of the pitch,” Salomon told the club website after Sunday’s game. “I thought some of our players really raised their games today and went toe-to-toe with some of the best in the world, it’s really encouraging to see that.

“For me, one person that stood out, not that I like to single individuals out was Mollie Burgess, she was brilliant today. We asked a lot of her because we played her in an unfamiliar position and she dealt with it really well, she put in a fantastic performance.

“For the likes of her, Grace Gillard who came on and did really well, Sasha (Adamson), Courtnay (Ward-Chambers) and for Shayla Burgess, this is the opportunity to test themselves at such an early age against some of the world’s best players.

“To come on and play with no fear and give the performances that they did is going to make them stronger and make them better players. They’ll really grow from this experience and I’m really proud of their performances and I know their more senior teammates are as well.”

The Hornets made a good start to the tie at Staines Town, with Emily Heaslip sending a 25-yard free-kick narrowly wide.

But Chelsea made the breakthrough with their first chance in the tenth minute when Shayla Burgess was beaten by a So-Yun strike from the edge of the area following a neat passing move.

The lead was quickly doubled four minutes later when Banusic scored her first after being set up a Davison pass.

Watford’s goalkeeper made a fine save to deny Banusic but she was beaten for a third time on the half-hour by a Davison penalty after the same player had been fouled in the area.

The Women’s Super League 1 side added a fourth goal shortly before the interval when Banusic doubled her tally after being picked out by a looping cross.

That fourth goal was harsh on the spirited Hornets and they responded well after the restart, subjecting the home side to plenty of pressure.

Kim Farrow almost got on the end of a Renee Hector free-kick but was beaten to the ball by keeper Marie Hourihan, while a Hollie Wride corner led to a scramble that was cleared.

After Shayla Burgess had denied Davison when she was through one-on-one, Megan Wynne beat two defenders before sending in a cross that was just too high for Farrow.

But that was as close as the Golden Girls were to come to a consolation as Banusic completed her hat-trick from close range before Bright headed home from a corner to complete the scoring.

“We weren’t happy with a few mistakes that were made that enabled them to score a couple of goals,” Salomon reflected. “It was a very good start by us and unfortunately we weren’t able to build on that because a couple of mistakes cost us two quick goals in the second phase of the half.

“To the credit of the players, they picked themselves up and they had a very good second half, our shape and organisation was much better, we made better decisions on the ball in terms of how quickly we needed to play against a Super League 1 side.”

Next up for Watford Ladies is their historic first game at Vicarage Road when they host Aston Villa Ladies on Saturday.

With no cash turnstiles available on the day of the game, fans are urged to buy tickets in advance. These cost £4 for adults and £2 concessions for the 3pm kick off.

Watford Ladies: S Burgess, Heaslip, Hector (Gillard 73), Robe, Wride, Natkiel, Donnelly, M Burgess, Green, Wynne (Ward-Chambers 650, Farrow (Adamson 71).