FA Women's Cup Final
City Ground, Nottingham
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 17,505
Match Rating: 4
For my May Day Bank Holiday entertainment I headed up to Nottingham for the most prestigious fixture in the Women's football calendar, the FA Women's Cup Final. With tickets priced at just £5, managing to book return coach tickets from London for just £1 each way, and an opportunity to visit a stadium that has been on my wish list for some time, this was a very cheap day out that I had looked forward to for some time. And the day did not disappoint.
On arrival at Nottingham, the CIty Ground is about a 20 minute walk from the city centre, mostly alongside the River Trent and passing by Notts County's Meadow Lane ground along the way. The stadium has a very pleasant setting, right on the banks of the River Trent. It's fair to say that the stadium is showing its age, with narrow concourses and a design quite typical of the 80's, but it retains a nice character about the place. I was sat in the lower tier of the Brian Clough stand along one length of the pitch, which is a fairly common two tier grandstand with hospitality boxes separating the upper and lower tiers. To the right of this stand is the Trent End, a large but unnoteworthy stand. Opposite the Brian Clough Stand is the Main Stand, which is actually the worst stand of all, chiefly because it cannot be redeveloped and made taller due to tight restrictions in consideration of the housing close by. The remaining Bridgford Road stand is interestingly designed, as it swoops down the considerable height difference between the Brian Clough and Main Stands. The programme couldn't really be faulted, costing £3 with a glossy hardened cover and containing an abundance of information on the two teams, the FA Cup season and women's football in general.
Arsenal had to be favourites for this game, as they have for so long been the utterly dominant force in the women's game. They have yet another league title in the bag, and this was Arsenal's eleventh FA Cup final and have won all ten previous finals they have particupated in. However, there's no doubt that their team has been weakened by some of their best players moving to the professional league in the USA, but still packed full of internationals, they still look a formidable outfit. However, Everton have emerged into quite a force in recent years, although without winning a major honour in their present guise. With a fair sprinkling of internationals and lying in third place in the league table, the ingredients were there for this to be close encounter.
After having been treated to the musical talents of Cascada, who also played the national anthem before the game, the match started off in warm sunshine. THis soon however gave way to windy rain showers and such variable conditions were to last throughout the match. Everton took the lead on 16 minutes through Natasha Dowie, niece of Iain Dowie, who struck the ball powerfully home after her initial shot was blocked. Arsenal responded by carving out some good chances, although overall Everton probably edged possession and attacking play. Arsenal equalised on 43 minutes when Gemma Davison was brought down by Rachel Unitt for as clear a penalty as you would ever see, which was confidently dispatched by Kim Little for her 42nd goal of the season. However, on the stroke of half time, Everton regained the lead when Toni Duggan sent in a dangerous cross and England international Faye White could only flick the ball into her own net. So the underdogs took a lead into the half time interval to put the all conquering Arsenal team under real pressure.
However, Arsenal were back on level terms on 54 minutes, when the prolific Scotland international Julie Fleeting looped the ball over Rachel Brown and into the net. Arsenal had the upper hand for the rest of the game, but after 90 minutes, the match remained deadlocked at 2-2. Arsenal will wonder how on earth they did not win this game comfortably in extra-time, as they squandered chance after glorious chance. Just as the game looked to be heading towards the dreaded penalty shoot-out, Everton strode forward and the ball was played forward for Dowie, who timed her run perfectly, and she clipped the ball over the onrushing Emma Byrne in the Arsenal goal and into the net from a tight angle with just a minute of extra-time remaining..
This was a most entertaining game, right up in the top three or four I have watched all season, and was the perfect advert for Ladies' football. It was an evenly balanced game with many chances at either end, and it was a pleasure to watch a football match where both sides played with excellent team and work ethics. It was played in a very positive spirit and it was refreshing to see the genuine enthusiasm and delight of the players on scoring or winning the cup. There was none of the nasty edge and the frankly boring harassing and baracking of referees that is seen in the men's game. It's true that the women's game is blighted by too many comical mistakes and the atmosphere lacks the passion and intensity of the men's game, but the quality of play and skills shown may well be a pleasant surprise and I would recommend watching a high profile women's game to anyone.
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