Arsenal Ladies v Charlton - FA Cup Semi 2006
Womens FA Cup Semi Final - 2006 Arsenal: E.Byrne, Y.Tracy, A.Scott, J.Ludlow, M.Phillip, F.White, L.Sanderson, A.Asante, J.Fleeting (C.Grant 90), K.Smith, R.Yankey. Charlton: P.Cope, C.Stoney, M.Hickmott, K.Chapman, K.Hills, M.Bertelli, G.Ritchie, E.Pond, E.Aluko, S.Snare, J.Potter (A.Barr 45). The two titans of English womens football wasted no time sparring when their WFA Cup semi final got under way at Bishops Stortford FC. The last thing Arsenal Ladies would have wanted was to offer Eniola Aluko encouragement, bearing in mind her recent brace which condemned them to defeat in the League Cup final. Within half a minute, however, Aluko's pace got her goal side of the defence from a hopeful ball forward and she was able to test Emma Byrne at her near post. Playing with a strong wind behind them, however, Arsenal soon asked some questions of their own. A raking through ball by Lianne Sanderson sent Julie Fleeting away and the Scottish international should have done much better than to screw her shot wide of the far post. Sanderson's early pass had caught Karen Hills out badly. That would barely happen again as an epic encounter unfolded. Sanderson then made good use of some generous refereeing to provide Fleeting with another chance. This effort was more testing but Pauline Cope was down smartly to save at the foot of her left hand post. Almost immediately good work by Alex Scott and Anita Asante gave Rachel Yankey a shooting chance 25 yards out and Cope was again at full stretch to save. Then when play swung straight to the other end a bout of head tennis involving Eartha Pond and Katie Chapman put Sarah Snare in at the far post but Byrne was out quickly to block. Only six minutes had gone! The game had started at a ferocious pace which allowed nobody the luxury of drawing breath. The most impressive player in these opening exchanges was Lianne Sanderson and she produced another sumptuous ball from the right hand side to release Yankey. The England winger wasted the opportunity with an ugly shank wide of the near post. With the wind in their sails Arsenal were becoming increasingly dominant although Charlton Ladies were now showing good organisation at the back and paying some decent football out of defence. Most of their energies were being spent in the pursuit of containment, however. It was a level mixture of persistence and skill which allowed Sanderson to create the next opening as she forced her way along the goalline before cutting the ball back to Yankey. She sent a shot fizzing across the face of goal which was cleared by a retreating defender from the jaws of goal. It was debatable whether this effort had been heading for the target but it was no time for the defender to be taking chances. On the quarter hour mark Cope was required to make another sharp stop when Sanderson clipped a free kick towards the bottom corner from 25 yards. The Charlton goalkeeper had been inspired in denying Arsenal in their previous meeting and looked in similar form here. Charlton emerged from defence to have a short spell of pressure themselves. Aluko and Casey Stoney worked a nice move down the right and the full backs' deep centre found Jo Potter stealing in unnoticed. Potter did not manage a clean contact with her shot, however, and the chance passed. Katie Chapman was then able to get her head on a deep free kick into the Arsenal box but could not muster sufficient power to trouble Emma Byrne. The free kick had been awarded for the latest in a series of fouls by Faye White, mainly on Aluko, and the England skipper was enduring a difficult opening. Despite Charlton's relative lack of possession Aluko was getting under her feet and when the ball did the same it generally ended up flying into touch well away from any intended target. When Kelly Smith turned away from trouble to send in a shot from 20 yards it was her first serious involvement. 21 minutes had elapsed and her surprising lack of action possibly explained why the ball was flying out of the ground. At last the succession of chances began to slow to a more normal rate. Fleeting and Yankey both saw efforts blocked as Charlton struggled to clear a corner and then Smith outpaced Michelle Hickmott to send a clever lob towards goal. The idea was spot on but the execution was lacking and Cope was able to gather comfortably. In a rare Charlton excursion Katie Chapman almost embarrassed Emma Byrne as the Arsenal goalkeeper dawdled over claiming a loose ball. Chapman flicked the ball from her grasp but was unable to direct it on target. Byrne called for a foul but it looked as though she had created her own problem. It was an isolated lapse on a day when Byrne was otherwise excellent. Jayne Ludlow came close with a 25 yard shot that was not far away from Cope's left hand angle after Maria Bertelli mistimed an attempted headed clearance and almost knocked herself out. Charlton still posed a danger on the occasions when they did manage to work the ball forward and one slick break provided an opportunity. Aluko chose to shoot from 25 yards with Gemma Ritchie in acres of space to her right but the effort was tame and easily saved by Byrne. A minute later White finally managed to get her name into the referee's notebook for yet another foul on Aluko. Five minutes later she clearly impeded the same player and was lucky to escape with a lecture. If the referee was lenient here he would at least remain so later when a couple of the Charlton players courted trouble. The half ended with Arsenal camped in the Charlton half trying to make the wind advantage tell. Fleeting and Yankey wasted a glorious opportunity after Karen Hills slipped but Yankey took possession from a clearly offside position with half a field to themselves. Lianne Sanderson then capped a masterful half by releasing Kelly Smith with a peach of a pass. On her weaker foot Smith could only shoot straight at Cope from point blank range. When Eartha Pond was adjudged not to have handled deep inside her own area Charlton had achieved their first objective and made it to half time level. Half Time: Arsenal Ladies 0 Charlton Ladies 0 It was easy to assume that Charlton would now be able to press Arsenal back as the wind remained fresh and would now be in their favour as the teams emerged for the second half. It was disappointing not to see Josanne Potter re-appear after the break, however. Potter had not seemed to be struggling before the interval but it was hard to imagine that Keith Boanas would have wanted to make such an extensive reshuffle so early if not required to do so. Amanda Barr came onto the right hand side of midfield with Gemma Ritchie moving into the centre. Eartha Pond moved to left back and Michelle Hickmott pushed further on along that side. None of these changes seemed to help the Charlton cause and they struggled to make any impression despite having the wind at their backs. They also played less football. Arsenal could hardly dominate so fully against the wind, however, and the game became increasingly scrappy. Lianne Sanderson floated another awkward free kick towards Pauline Cope's goal. The effort could not have been more accurate but was slightly gentle and Cope was able to lunge and save. Ten minutes of the second half had passed before Charlton were able to threaten. Hickmott sent over a testing low centre which almost broke for Barr and Casey Stoney then tried her luck from 35 yards out. Like Kelly Smith before her Stoney saw her shot fly out of bounds. Arsenal were still the more dangerous side though. Kelly Smith brushed aside Barr to release Lianne Sanderson who went for power with her finish. She found plenty but also found Pauline Cope's midriff. Sanderson continued to excel and tested Cope again after making room when there didn't seem to be any in a crowded box. Cope's positioning was again faultless. Arsenal's pressure intensified but still the finishing touch proved elusive. Rachel Yankey drilled a wonderful crossfield ball over Eartha Pond to send Sanderson clear. Her excellent performance did not excuse the tame finish she offered here. On 66 minutes Cope topped all her previous saves with a quite magnificent stop. Kelly Smith escaped the clutches of Chapman down the left hand side of the box and crossed for Julie Fleeting to whip in a stinging first time volley which was destined for the roof of the net until Cope somehow got across to tip away. Three minutes later, however, the pressure told. Kelly Smith, becoming more influential by the minute, made a typical surge from midfield. Smith drove deep into the heart of the Charlton defence before slipping the ball wide to Sanderson. Sanderson chipped towards the far post and Cope could only get fingertips to the ball. Stealing in behind her Julie Fleeting nodded into the empty net from three yards out. Charlton had done nothing since half time to suggest they might score but shortly afterwards they were level. If the goal was a surprise the scorer was not. It was another absolute cracker by Eni Aluko. Casey Stoney lofted a free kick forward and Chapman headed on towards the edge of the box. Aluko's first touch slipped the ball beyond Faye White and in the blinking of an eye Aluko had turned and smashed an unerring shot inside Emma Byrne's right hand post. It was a truly great goal. The referee played a good advantage in Arsenal's next attack after Pond hacked Fleeting down and Kelly Smith was able to pierce the Charlton defence with a superb diagonal ball to Yankey. As with too many of her centres, however, Yankey allowed the defence to recover and block. Pond then tested the referee's patience to the limit by going through Fleeting again. At the present moment womens football is basically without the histrionics of the mens game and again the teams were allowed to continue at 11 a side. Right at the end of normal time Gemma Ritchie supplied a tricky ball into the near post which Aluko and Byrne lunged for desperately. Aluko got the touch but could not deflect her effort on target. Full Time: Arsenal Ladies 1 Charlton Athletic Ladies 1 Julie Fleeting had to submit to the pounding handed out to her from Eartha Pond and sit out extra time. Ciara Grant came into the midfield and Jayne Ludlow pushed up into the forward line. Many of the crowd had muttered darkly about the prospect of extra time on an increasingly bitter afternoon and the players seemed to share their disenchantment as the first ten minutes of overtime passed without incident. Then Arsenal re-asserted themselves. Lianne Sanderson conjured another lovely ball to supply Jayne Ludlow who showed an exquisite touch to burst clear. Slight hesitation as she entered the area allowed Pond to execute a fine saving challenge. Kelly Smith then had a good opportunity after being released by Ciara Grant. Having cut inside, however, she found her path to goal blocked and both herself and Yankey were unable to force the ball home before Charlton eventually cleared. The last action of the first period of extra time almost saw Arsenal regain the lead. Smith and Sanderson combined yet again and Faye White could not quite get over her header in front of a gaping goal when Sanderson fired the ball across. Early in the second period Charlton came even closer to snatching the lead. Arsenal failed to clear a free kick from the right and Casey Stoney looped a header back across goal which looked certain to drop under the bar as it left her forehead. Fortunately for Arsenal it struck the face of the woodwork and rebounded to safety. Kelly Smith was now the games dominant force. Her energy and strength appeared as bountiful as ever as most around her began to wilt. There was a hint of desperation in even her efforts as the clock counted down towards penalties, however. Ludlow saw a shot deflected into the side netting from another of Smith's surges and there were loud penalty claims when a move inspired by Smith and also involving Yankey and Sanderson looked to have drawn a hand ball from Karen Hills. The referee agreed with the excellent Charlton stopper, however, as she eagerly pointed to her chest. With only a couple of minutes remaining Charlton worked perhaps their best move of the game. Katie Chapman and Casey Stoney exchanged quick short passes down the right hand side to send the full back away. Stoney drilled a dangerous low ball into the centre to spark a giant scramble but Arsenal survived. There was still time for Arsenal to go down the other end and pose a threat of their own. Barr rashly conceded a free kick which Sanderson lifted high to the back post. Jayne Ludlow produced an astonishing leap to head for the bottom corner but Cope managed to smuggle the ball behind. From Rachel Yankey's hurried corner Ludlow again came powering through the crowd and this time there was nothing anyone could do about her header. There was barely time to re-start the game and the contrasting reactions of the two sets of players is easily imagined. For Charlton there was despair at the loss of the trophy they held from last season and the ending of their treble hopes for this season. For Arsenal there was unadulterated joy and quick revenge for their League Cup final defeat. Although they had left it late to clinch victory there could be no doubting their right to deserve such an outcome. For all Charlton's battling defiance Arsenal had been comfortably the better side. Full Time (aet): Arsenal Ladies 2 Charlton Athletic Ladies 1 Star Player: Lianne Sanderson Sanderson troubled the Charlton defence throughout with her control, strong running and incisive passing. She was particularly outstanding in the first half and looks overdue a call up to the senior England squad. She also reminds me of someone but I can't for the life of me work out who it is. That's annoying isn't it?
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