Arsenal 3
(Smith 23, Chapman 31, Davison 90) 
Everton 0

Gresty Road, Crewe
2 August 2006
Attendance 2,604 

DOUBLE WINNERS ARSENAL REPEAT SHIELD SUCCESS 

After winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2005-06, Arsenal laid down a marker for the new campaign with a clear-cut Community Shield victory over an Everton team which had finished the previous term just behind them in the runners-up spot.

It was the second successive Shield win for the Gunners and the sixth time they had contested the annual season-opener since its 2000 inception.

In an often one-sided game played under Crewe Alexandra’s floodlights and broadcast live on Sky Sports, Vic Akers’ charges scored through Kelly Smith and Katie Chapman in the first half and never looked like relinquishing their lead, even though it took until the last minute of the match for the third goal to arrive courtesy of Gemma Davison.

England striker Smith, the previous season’s top National Division markswoman, hit the 23rd minute opener with a long-range effort that caught Everton goalkeeper Danielle Hill off her line.

The lead was almost doubled shortly after the re-start, Smith’s international colleague Rachel Yankey striking a shot against the inside of the post and from the rebound Wales midfielder Jayne Ludlow also hitting the woodwork.

But just after the half-hour Chapman, another member of Arsenal’s England contingent after signing from Charlton Athletic in the close season, marked her Gunners debut with a goal as she latched on to a Karen Carney cross to steer the ball home.

An Everton team which also contained a ruck of England players fought back valiantly, but without causing their opponents too many problems.  

And it was with virtually the last kick of the match that substitute Davison – not yet an England international but destined to become one in 2009 – tapped in the final goal after Hill had fumbled a Lianne Sanderson cross.

Arsenal: Byrne, A. Scott, Phillip, Ludlow, Champ (Larkin 88), Asante, Carney (Davison 81), Smith, Sanderson, Chapman, Yankey, 
Substitutes not used: Grant, Spencer, Daniels

Everton: Hill, Easton, Unitt, Duffy, Whelan, Johnson, Kane, J. Scott (Harding 81), Handley, McDougall (Williams 55), Evans (Westwood 66)
Subs not used: Eadie, Brown

Referee: Ms S. Ihringova