Forward focus

Barnet v Nottingham Forest
The FA Women’s Premier League Cup
The Final
7.30pm, Thursday 24 March 2011
Adams Park, Wycombe Wanderers FC
Tickets are £5 for adults, £2.50 for concessions (under 16s, over 65s)
Ticket hotline 01494 441 118

Nottingham Forest Ladies’ Catherine Lawson readily admits Thursday night’s FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final against Barnet will be the biggest game of her career.

Her six goals helped propel Forest to The Final, and the midfielder-cum-forward, who has been at the club for 13 years, says her memories of leaner times make this achievement all the more monumental.

She said: “I’ve been at the club for so long that I remember when we used to play in the East Midlands Premier Division and we were getting beaten week in, week out 7-0 or 8-0. So, to get three promotions to be where we are now and to be playing in a major Cup Final is just amazing.

“I’ve had the opportunity to do quite a few things in my career but this Final will definitely top the lot.”

Forest beat Derby, Leicester and Manchester City on the way to topping their Premier League Cup group, then defeated Gillingham (5-0) and Millwall Lionesses (2-0) before edging the Foxes 1-0 in the Semi-Final. Looking back on Forest’s Cup run, Lawson fondly recalls one of her key strikes but is quick to assign credit to her team-mates, rather than accept individual acclaim.

“The magnitude of my winner against Leicester [in the Semi-Final], both on a personal and club level, was massive,” the Mansfield-born star said. “That has to be one of the most important goals I’ve ever scored. I honestly believed something significant was going to happen in that game and it certainly did.

“I’ve been happy with my own performances in The Cup, but I’m even happier with how we’ve done as a team,” she continued. “We have all worked so hard to get to this stage. And I don’t feel like we’ve reached our potential yet either, so hopefully this Final will be the game where we all click and play the football we all know we can play.”