Final quartet anticipate exciting showpiece

Everton v Leeds Carnegie
The Final
The FA Tesco Women’s Premier League Cup
7pm, Thursday 11 February 2010
Spotland Stadium, Rochdale AFC
Tickets are priced £5 for adults, £2.50 for concessions

You can watch this Final live and free of charge on FATV

Everton’s Fara Williams and Fern Whelan and Leeds Carnegie’s Sue Smith and Olivia Thackray recently took part in a media and trophy tour in Rochdale ahead of The FA Tesco Women’s Premier League Cup Final, which will take place at Spotland Stadium on Thursday evening.

For the players, it was a time to look ahead to the first major Final of the season and an opportunity to win some silverware for their club. Everton won this competition in 2008, beating Arsenal in The Final, while Leeds were beaten by the Gunners in the 2007 showpiece.

“I’m looking forward to a good, competitive, exciting Final,” said Everton defender, Whelan. “It was good to be a part of The Final in 2008. I was injured on the day so I couldn’t play but I joined in the celebrations at the end. This year, hopefully it will be different because I’d love to make more of a contribution and play my part.

“Winning this Cup in 2008 has just made us hungrier to win more. We want to win every competition we’re in and put our stamp on the women’s game,” she continued. “I think we just need to go out there, play our football and after pushing Arsenal for so many years and getting to Finals we now need to perform on the big day and hopefully come away with the trophy.

“Through playing each other in the League and knowing each other through the various England teams, most of us will know each player’s strengths and weaknesses so I think it will be about who performs best on the day.”

However, Smith admits she would be happy for Everton to perform better than Leeds on the night, just as long as it is Rick Passmoor’s side who end up with the trophy. Having been beaten in The Final in 2007 and having lost two FA Women’s Cup Finals during her time with Leeds, Smith is hoping to make it fourth time lucky at Rochdale and will happily substitute a good performance for silverware.

“Being in Finals is what we all play the game for and we’re all delighted to be here again. We have been beaten in a few Finals in the last few years and it would be nice to finally win one,” said Smith. “We know it will be difficult against Everton because they are a top side, but if we can win this one game, no matter how we play, I’ll be over the moon. Obviously it would be great to play well and really have deserved it, but in Finals we all know that it is only the result that matters.”

Everton captain, Williams, has already experienced that winning feeling in this competition, having helped the Toffees lift the trophy two seasons ago and she has called upon her side to replicate the focus they had before they defeated Arsenal in 2008.

“We set out to win silverware at the beginning of this season and getting to Finals is obviously a big part of that. It’s an exciting time, especially as the game gets closer and I think it will be a really good game for the neutrals. We’ve both got very young teams and we both want to play football which will be great to watch.

“Everyone was really focused ahead of The Final in 2008 and hopefully we’ll have that same buzz before this game as well. We know Leeds are a good side so we’ll have to be.”

At 20, Leeds defender, Thackray makes up one element of a very young Leeds squad, but she insists that will not have any bearing on the result.

“We are a young team but I think all of us can each bring something to the table. The likes of Sue and Jess [Wright] offer us advice when we need it and when they think we need it, which is great to have, but we’ve played together as a squad for a few years now and we are obviously good enough to be in a Final, so that has helped with our confidence a lot.

“We have lost a few Finals, but we’re ready for this game and just can’t wait to get going.”

Ticket information
Tickets are priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions.

Accreditation
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