Yesterday Chelsea Ladies won the Women’s FA Cup for the first time in their history beating Notts County 1-0 in front of a crowd of over 30,000 at Wembley Stadium.
South Korean striker Ji So-Yun scored the only goal of the game in the 37th minute, following some great play from Player of the Match Eni Aluko.
Aluko’s pace and strength caused County problems during the whole game as did Gemma Davison’s fine crossing ability on the other flank.
And it was Davison who had the game’s first real chance, getting on the end of a deep cross from the left but shooting just inches over at the back post.
However a minute later, Chelsea did take the lead and it was PFA’s Player of the Year So-Yun who got her name on the scoresheet in this historic game.
The goal was all Aluko’s making as the England international drove at the County defence before twisting and turning in the box to find room to pass to So-Yun yards from goal. The South Korean’s initial shot was blocked by a mix of desperate slide tackles and goalkeeping heroics, neither of which stopped the striker poking the ball home at the second time of asking.
The second half started very slowly with neither team creating many chances, Canadian Desiree Scott did see her fired effort from the edge of the box deflect just wide for County.
Notts then nearly scored from the resulting corner when a header from Leanne Chrichton was cleared off the line by Davison.
From then on Chelsea kept the ball well and prevented Notts from having any more opportunities to see the game out and pick up their first ever piece of silverware.
In such a monumental match for women’s football it was to be expected there would be heartbreak for the losing side, something Notts County manager Rick Passmoor alluded to after the game.
“I’m disappointed with the performance but the best team won,” said Passmoor.
“We didn’t create anything in the top third in the second half that was the big difference.
“On reflection we’ll learn from this.”
Defender Scott went on to reflect her manager’s sentiments. “It went from pure excitement to disappointment,” she said.
“Not the result we wanted with a FA Cup at stake, but all credit to Chelsea it was a good game.”
