CHARLTON CLAIM FIRST MAJOR SILVERWARE
Charlton Athletic 1 (Coss 32)
Fulham 0
FA Women's Premier League Cup Final 2003-04
Underhill Stadium, Barnet
Attendance: 1,419
28 March 2004
Substitute Emma Coss was the unlikely goal heroine as Charlton Athletic collected the first major trophy in their history to keep themselves on track for the treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Central defender Coss had been on the pitch only two minutes when she headed in what proved to be the match winner with her first goal of the season 11 minutes before the interval.
"I’m overwhelmed," said Coss, whose former side Arsenal and Fulham were the only two clubs to that date to have achieved the treble. "It’s not nice, having to start a final on the subs’ bench," she added, "but to come on and score was a dream come true.
"It was a good time to score, shortly before half-time, and although we were under pressure in the second half I felt we contained Fulham well and our fitness told in the closing stages.
"Now we’d love to go on and win the treble and that’s been in the back of our minds, but we were totally focused on today’s game and we know we have to win every game we’ve got left to get the treble."
Coss scored the only goal of a hard fought final with what was Charlton’s first scoring attempt after Fulham had enjoyed most of the early possession, with both Katie Chapman and Sanchia Duncan narrowly missing the target.
After replacing injured captain Casey Stoney in the 32nd minute, Coss went up for an Eartha Pond corner and powered in a far post header to break the deadlock.
Fulham regained control after the interval but, despite creating several openings, they could not force an equaliser. Charlton goalkeeper Pauline Cope made saves from Rachel Yankey and Rachel McArthur as the Cottagers pressed for a goal.
The Addicks might have wrapped up victory in the closing stages, Carmaine Walker hitting the bar then her fellow striker Ann-Marie Heatherson wasting a good opportunity; but in the end Coss’ goal proved enough to win the Cup.
Charlton’s victory saw them complete a notable hat-trick over last season’s treble winners, who they had now beaten in their last three meetings – firstly in the FA Cup, then in the League and now the League Cup.
They stood ahead of the Cottagers at the top of the FA Nationwide Women’s Premier League table, but the title was not yet assured and Fulham, said manager Marieanne Spacey, would do everything in their power to win the League for a second successive season.
"The girls are obviously very disappointed about losing the final," said Spacey, "especially as we played the better football and had more shots at goal.
"But I said in the build-up to the game that one chance could win the game and we had be the ones to take it – and unfortunately we lacked a cutting edge today.
"The players are hurt, but we’ve still got every chance of winning the League and I’ll be emphasising the fact that although today was a Cup final, every game from now until the end of the season is going to be a cup final – and we’ve got to win them all!"
While Spacey and her players left Barnet’s Underhill stadium empty handed, Charlton were heading for a celebration before starting preparations for a three-match run-in to the end of the season that could end with a triple triumph.
Manager Keith Boanas said: "It’s phenomenal to have won our first trophy – I feel it’s reward for all the people at Charlton who’ve shown faith in women’s football since I joined the club in 1996.
"This is a great way to start paying them back, and it also takes a bit of pressure off us in terms of winning trophies – but we still want the League title, which would give us European football next season, and winning the FA Cup would be the icing on the cake."
Charlton: Cope, Stoney (Coss 32), Pond, Hills, Murphy, Smith, Williams, Broadhurst, Barr, Walker, Heatherson.
Substitutes not used: Hunn, Loizou, Rea, Bolton.
Fulham: Hall, Jerray-Silver (Ritchie 77), Yorston (Hickmott 46), Wright, Philip, Chapman, McArthur, Unitt, Yankey, Duncan, Bird (Waine 66).
Substitutes not used: Chamberlain, Bennett.
Referee R. Vaughan
Assistant referees M. Asplen, J. Watson
RESULTS
First Round
14/9/2003
Arsenal 4-0 Ipswich Town
Aston Villa 5-0 AFC Wimbledon
Barnet 2-4aet Bangor City (AET)
Birmingham City 0-4 Fulham
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-7 Charlton Athletic
Enfield Town 1-5 Lincoln City
Everton 3-0 Manchester City
Langford 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds United 3-1 Bristol City
Liverpool 0-1 Bristol Rovers
Middlesbrough 3-1 Chelsea
Oldham Curzon 4-2 Merthyr Tydfil
Southampton Saints 1-3 Doncaster Rovers Belles
Sunderland 3-0 Stockport County
Watford 1-7 Tranmere Rovers
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Portsmouth
Second Round
12/10/2003
Middlesbrough 1-5 Bristol Rovers
Charlton Athletic 10-1 Bangor City
Arsenal 4-2 Sunderland
Tranmere Rovers 1-5 Doncaster Rovers Belles
Fulham 9-0 Langford
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Lincoln City AET (Wolverhampton Wanderers won 4-2 on penalties)
Leeds United 7-0 Everton
Aston Villa 2-1 Oldham Curzon
Third Round
2/11/2003
Bristol Rovers 4-1 Aston Villa
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-4 Charlton Athletic
Arsenal 4-0 Doncaster Rovers Belles
Leeds United 2-3 Fulham
Semi-Finals
14/12/2003
Fulham 7-0 Bristol Rovers
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Arsenal
Final
28/3/2004
Charlton Athletic 1-0 Fulham
(Coss 32)
