PAYBACK FOR WEMBLEY AS BELLES SILENCED IN HISTORIC TRIUMPH
Doncaster Belles 2 (Walker, Lonergan)
Wembley 2 (Ball, Liran p)
(AET: Wembley win 5-3 on pens)
FA Women’s Premier League Cup final
Underhill Stadium, Barnet
10 March 1996
Attendance 487
Two seasons after their name change from District Line, who in 1992-93 had gained promotion to the National League’s top flight at the first attempt, Wembley won their only major trophy through a League Cup final penalty shoot-out victory over Doncaster Belles.
And what a sweet victory it was for manager John Jones and his team, who as District Line in 1990-91’s FA Cup fourth round had been humiliatingly swept aside by Donny in a 17-2 rout.
“That FA Cup defeat was the day we grew up as a team,” recalled Jones. “At half-time we were eight, maybe 10 goals behind and the girls were absolutely distraught – I had to pick them up off the floor to go out and play in the second half.
“But at the end of the game I said to them, ‘this will never happen to us again. Donny are the best team in the country and that’s how good you can aspire to be.’
“We grew and developed from there, and by the time we got to the League Cup final in ’96 we were not only living with them but playing against them on level terms.”
On level terms with the Belles they may have been, but Wembley were nevertheless the underdogs as they went into a final that was the biggest game of the club’s then 21-year history.
Donny had breezed their way through to the final with some huge wins before impressively beating that season’s Premier League winners Croydon in the semi-final.
But Wembley had also impressed en route to the final, notably with a 4-1 semi-final win against reigning League champions Arsenal – six times winners of the League Cup in its first 10 seasons.
And Jones’ players showed their lack of fear against the Belles as they went ahead after just six minutes, former Arsenal striker Naz Ball shooting home from 15 yards.
Boosted by the early goal, Wembley controlled the majority of the first half. But the game was dramatically turned on its head in the five minutes leading up to the break.
Doncaster striker Karen Walker – who had hit a hat-trick in each of the previous rounds – equalised with an 18-yard drive and then Rebecca Lonergan volleyed the Belles in front.
Throughout the second half Donny looked the more likely winners, Walker twice going close to what might have been a conclusive third goal, but deep into stoppage time Ball was brought down in the box by Michelle Jackson and Ayala Liran scored from the resultant penalty.
Extra time brought no clear-cut chances for either side. But after 120 minutes of play had ended in a 2-2 draw, Sarah Begg’s miss in the penalty shoot-out proved fatal for Donny as Ball then struck to give Wembley a 5-3 win and the League Cup trophy.
Jones said: “What a great day that was for us. It was payback for that massive FA Cup defeat we’d suffered by the Belles, but more importantly it showed the progress we’d made in the five years since to put us among the best teams in the country.”
Doncaster Belles (4-4-2): Biggins; Pollard, Woodhead, Jackson, Utley; Coultard, Exley, Sherrard, Borman; Walker, Lonergan (Begg 76).
Substitutes not used: Bagley, Clarke, Davis.
Wembley (3-4-2-1): Higgs; Harwood, Darby, Liran; Koch, Smith, Lorton, Jones (Frampton 76); Grant, Lee (Jerray-Silver 50); Ball.
Substitutes not used: Wood, Reed.
Referee: S. Lomas (Chiswick)
RESULTS
First Round: Northern & Southern Division clubs
22/10/1995
Brentford 1-7 Tranmere Rovers
Ipswich Town 2-3 Berkhamsted
Kidderminster Harriers 0-5 Garswood St Helens
Leyton Orient 4-2 Notts County (AET)
Southampton Saints 3-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Three Bridges 3-0 Oxford United
Town & County 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Wimbledon 3-2 Huddersfield Town
RTM Newcastle 1-2 Langford
Bronte received a bye
Second Round: National Division clubs enter
26/11/1995
Bronte 0-13 Liverpool
Garswood St Helens 4-1 Southampton Saints
17/12/1995
Ilkeston Town 1-2 Croydon
Millwall Lionesses 2-1 Berkhamsted
12 clubs received byes
Third Round
17/12/1995
Arsenal 5-0 Garswood St Helens
Arsenal 5-0 Garswood St Helens
Doncaster Belles 7-0 Langford
Leyton Orient 5-2 Town & County
Three Bridges 3-3 Wimbledon (AET: Three Bridges won 5-3 on pens)
Tranmere Rovers 5-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wembley 4-0 Villa Aztecs
7/1/1996
Millwall Lionesses 0-4 Liverpool
Everton 4-4 Croydon (AET: Croydon win 7-6 on pens)
Quarter-finals
14/1/1996
Leyton Orient 0-10 Doncaster Belles
Three Bridges 1-3 Arsenal
Liverpool 1-3 Wembley
4/2/1996
Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Croydon
Semi-finals
4/2/1996
Arsenal 1-4 Wembley
18/2/1996
Croydon 1-3 Doncaster Belles
Final
10/3/1996
Doncaster Belles 2-2 Wembley (AET: Wembley won 5-3 on penalties)
