Page 4 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.18 2020-21

Lesss than 24 hours after their men’s team won the FA Cup for the
first time in their history, Leicester City completed a magnificent
weekend for the club as they beat Manchester Utd 3-2 to reach the
quarter finals of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
In Casey Stoney’s final match in charge of United, Jess
Sigsworth gave them a first half lead but Leicester were back on terms through Shannon O’Brien
in first half injury time. Jane Ross put United back in front just after the hour but two goals in
a a two minute spell, from Hannah Cain and Natasha Flint, saw Leicester to a stunning victory.
Southampton FC Women’s Cup run has come to an end but a late comeback meant
they only went down 3-2 to Birmingham City. Mollie Green, Emily Murphy and Sarah
Mayling scored the goals to give departing Blues manager Carla Ward a winning send off,
despite Ella Morris and Ella Pusey pulling back goals for the battling Saints in the final six
minutes.
Tottenham Hotspur were another WSL side to be pushed all the way, by Sheffield
Utd before eventually winning 2-1 after extra time. Lucy Quinn put Spurs in front on the half
hour, but the Blades battled back in the second half and Lucy Watson’s equaliser, ten minutes
from time, sent the match into the extra period where Kit Graham settled matters in Spurs’
favour with twelve minutes left to play.
Holders Manchester City produced a late flurry of goals as they ran out 5-1 winners
over West Ham Utd. Ellen White’s early strike was cancelled out by Anouk Denton, with
Janine Beckie restoring City’s lead just before half time. The game remained in the balance until
the final sixteen minutes, when Rose Lavelle, Sam Mewis and Lauren Hemp added further goals
to seal the result.
Charlton Athletic are the second Championship team through to the quarter finals,
along with Leicester City, following their 1-0 success away to Blackburn Rovers. The only
goal of the game came in the 78th minute, Jess King breaking through the Rovers defence before
sliding her shot into the corner of the net.
FA Women’s National League interest in the competition is over for another year as
Huddersfield Town were also beaten, 6-0 at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. Nora
Heroum opened the scoring for the Seagulls, before Rianna Jarrett and a Bethan Davies own
goal made it three at half time. Fliss Gibbons added the fourth midway through the second half,
before Brighton rounded off the scoring with a brace from defender Danique Kerkdijk.
Joe Montemurro was another in charge of his team for the final time and he left on a
winning note as Arsenal scored nine times without reply past Crystal Palace. Kim Little’s
sixth minute penalty for the Gunners was added to on the stroke of half time by Beth Mead and
Danielle van de Donk. Noelle Maritz netted the fourth on the hour, before Arsenal produced a
late goal blitz, Maritz scoring her second to add to further strikes from Jordan Nobbs, Vivianne
Miedema, Jill Roord and Katie McCabe.
Chelsea’s Fifth Round tie against Everton was delayed until Thursday night because of
their involvement in the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final on the weekend, but they put
their disappointment in Gothenburg behind them to win 3-0. Guro Reiten put Chelsea in front
just before the half hour, before two late goals sealed the result. Sam Kerr fired in the second
from the edge of the area before turning provider for the final goal, crossing for Drew Spence to
head home.
The FA has confirmed that the draw for the quarter finals will be broadcast live next
Friday (28th May) during Women’s Football Weekly on talkSPORT 2.
The draw will be carried out by the show’s host, Faye Carruthers, and former England
international, Lianne Sanderson. The broadcast will run from 12pm-1pm, with the draw to be
conducted at around 12.30pm. To tune in, you can do so on talksport.com, the talkSport app, or
through your DAB radio.
The date of the quarter finals has been confirmed as Wednesday 29th September.
Issue no. 18 - 20 May 2021 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk