COTTAGERS SHOOT DOWN GUNNERS TO END PROUD TROPHY RUN
Arsenal 1 (Grant 90)
Fulham 1 (Yankey 89)
[AET: Fulham won 3-2 on penalties]
FA Women’s Premier League Cup final 2002-03
County Ground, Swindon
Attendance 2,200
30 March 2003
It was unlucky 13 for Arsenal as arch-rivals Fulham beat them in a nervous penalty-shoot out to win a largely disappointing Premier League Cup final.
The Gunners had won all 12 of the previous finals in which they had been involved, six in the FA Cup and six in the League Cup.
They had lifted the League Cup four times in succession before the previous year, when Fulham won it for the first time after beating Arsenal in the semi-finals.
And the Cottagers got the upper hand once again to retain the trophy, though they had to do so through a shoot-out in which seven of the 12 penalties were missed.
Goalkeeper Astrid Johannessen was the winning team’s hero, making four spot-kick saves before right back Kim Jerray-Silver hit the victory clincher.
The shoot-out followed a goalless extra time after the final’s allotted 90 minutes had ended in drama, Fulham’s England winger Rachel Yankey seemingly winning the game with an 89th minute goal only for Republic of Ireland midfielder Ciara Grant to equalise with seconds left on the clock.
The game had also started in exciting fashion, Fulham midfielder Sanchia Duncan hitting the Arsenal crossbar from 18 yards after just five minutes.
But there was little of note that followed before the late two-goal flurry, though Arsenal’s Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne had to make good second half stops from England midfielder Rachel McArthur and Jerray-Silver.
Byrne went on to make three penalty shoot-out saves, but she was trumped by the four kept out by Johannessen as Fulham triumphed.
Cottagers manager Gaute Haugenes said: "We created enough chances to have won the game in normal time and it was disappointing that we didn't do that.
"When Rachel scored I thought the game was won, but then we gave away a bad goal and the girls were very frustrated when the final whistle went.
"But the team spirit stayed high and in the end we got the victory we deserved. I was very proud of the girls."
Arsenal boss Vic Akers, whose team had lost 1-0 to Charlton Athletic in the previous week's FA Cup semi-final, said: "It was very disappointing to get so close and lose out again.
"We were 3-1 ahead on penalties and at that stage we only need to score one more to win the game. But it wasn't to be.”
Arsenal: Byrne, Pealling, Ludlow, Champ, Williams, Banks, Maggs, Grant, Wheatley, Fletcher, Tracey.
Substitutes not used: Burrows, Price, O’Brien, Martyn, Scott.
Fulham: Johannessen, Jerray-Silver, McArthur, Unitt, Phillip, Haugenes, Duncan, Moore (Spacey 105), Yankey, Pedersen, Nwajei.
Substitutes not used: Gibbons, Smith, Therkelsen, Bennett.
RESULTS
Qualifying Round
8/9/2002
Bristol City 2-5 Aston Villa
Langford 2-1 Merthyr Tydfil
First Round
29/9/2002
Oldham Curzon bye
Barking 1-4 Garswood Saints
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Barnet
Bristol Rovers 3-0 Southampton Saints
Charlton Athletic 2-0 Enfield
Doncaster Belles 3-0 Everton
Fulham 6-2 Langford
Lincoln City 2-4 Leeds United
Manchester City 5-2 Ilkeston Town
Middlesbrough 0-1 Ipswich Town
Sunderland 4-0 Chelsea
Tranmere Rovers 4-0 Millwall Lionesses
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Liverpool [Liverpool won 4-1 on penalties]
13/10/2002
Arsenal 11-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Bangor City 2-3 Aston Villa
Wimbledon 0-4 Birmingham City
Second Round
27/10/2002
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-4 Birmingham City
Bristol Rovers 2-0 Oldham Curzon
Charlton Athletic 10-1 Garswood Saints
Doncaster Belles 2-1 Manchester City
Fulham 12-0 Liverpool
Sunderland 2-3 Aston Villa
10/11/2002
Arsenal 3-0 Leeds United
17/11/2002
Tranmere Rovers 6-0 Ipswich Town
Quarter-finals
24/11/2002
Aston Villa 1-0 Charlton Athletic
Doncaster Belles 7-0 Bristol Rovers
Fulham 5-0 Birmingham City
1/12/2002
Arsenal 1-0 Tranmere Rovers
Semi-finals
29/01/2003
Aston Villa 1-2 Fulham
2/2/2002
Doncaster Belles 1-2 Arsenal
Final
30/3/2003
Arsenal 1-1 Fulham [AET: Fulham won 3-2 on penalties]
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2898351.stm
