SPURS CAPTURE PREMIER LEAGUE CUP EN ROUTE TO WSL
Charlton Athletic 0
Tottenham Hotspur 0
(AET: Tottenham won 4-3 on penalties)
FA Women’s Premier League Cup final
Lamex Stadium, Stevenage
7 May 2017
Attendance: 544
A League Cup final success on penalties marked the half-way point in a triple triumph for Tottenham Hotspur, in what was the most successful season of the women’s team’s then 32-year history.
Just 12 months after winning the League Cup for the first time, Spurs not only repeated that feat but also won the FA WPL Southern Premier Division and then - three weeks after lifting the League Cup - beat Blackburn Rovers in the Northern v Southern Division champions Play-Off for promotion to the Women’s Super League 2.
So it was indeed a fantastic season for Spurs, though given that they won their division by four points and were to beat Blackburn 3-0 in the Play-Off, winning the League Cup final proved the most difficult to achieve.
It was achieved in a nail-biting shoot-out finale whose most decisive participant was Tottenham goalkeeper Toni-Anne Wayne, who saved two Charlton spot-kicks to ensure that the Cup was retained.
Ahead of the shoot-out there had been penalty box drama from the game’s early stages, with no less than four goal line clearances in the opening half.
Three of those last gasp stops came at the Charlton end, with Spurs striker Wendy Martin denied a goal on each occasion as Grace Coombs - twice - and Daisy Monaghan kept the scoreline goalless.
Sandwiched between the first and second of those Charlton clearances, the Addicks themselves were thwarted when Avilla Bergin had her shot blocked by Lucia Leon.
Tottenham had the better of the play as the game wore on and striker Bianca Baptiste twice cursed her luck, having a second half shot deflected on to a post then seeing a ferocious extra-time effort rattle the woodwork.
And so to the shoot-out and to Wayne taking centre stage, the keeper saving penalties by Kim Dixson and Coombs as Spurs won 4-3 to lift the Cup for a second successive season.
“When you go into penalty shoot-outs it’s a lottery,” said Wayne, “but my goalkeeping coach did some homework for me when we went into extra time, so I had an idea of where they might go.
“We were the better team throughout; we had so many chances. We made it hard for ourselves, but I think it was deserved. We worked hard for each other and the girls were fantastic.”
A beaten but unbowed Charlton manager Riteesh Mishra said: “Congratulations to Spurs, (but) I am positive about the future of this football club. The experience of this season will make us all better, I know that.”
Tottenham Hotspur: Wayne, Leon, Schillaci (c), Hector, Rawle (O’Leary 90), Green (Pond 100), McClean, Vio, Martin, Humes (Whinnett 70), Baptiste.
Substitutes not used: Moloney, Blanchflower.
Charlton Athletic: Baker, Flack, Dixson (c), Sullivan, Coombs, Clifford, Bergin, Pepper (Lee 66), Graham, Monaghan (Simmons 66), Southgate.
Substitutes not used: Cooper, Dunne, Nash.
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE PLATE 2016-17
Two-goal Georgia Bridges led the way as Southern Division Lewes beat Northern Division team Huddersfield Town 4-0 in the FAWNL Plate final, played at Brackley Town’s St James Park stadium.
After giving her side a sixth minute lead, Bridges - following a Dani Lane goal on the hour - put the result beyond doubt when scoring her second in the 78th minute. Rachel Palmer completed the scoring five minutes from time.
Player of the match Bridges was handed the plaudits, but manager John Donoghue insisted: “This really was an all-round team performance. Every player was on their mettle from the first minute to the last.”
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE CUP RESULTS 2016-17
Determining round
The competition began with a Determining Round, which consisted of all 72 teams in the FA Women's Premier League being drawn in pairs.
The winners of these 36 games progressed to the next stage of the competition, while the losers qualified for the 2016–17 FA Women's Premier League Plate.
4/9/2016
AFC Wimbledon 3–2 Plymouth Argyle
Basingstoke 3–0 Cheltenham Town
Blackburn Rovers 19–0 Rotherham United
Blackpool Wren Rovers 5–0 Crewe Alexandra
C & K Basildon 8–0 St Nicholas
Cambridge United 3–3 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) Lewes
Charlton Athletic 8–1 Shanklin
Chichester City 6–2 Actonians
Coventry United 9–0 Maidenhead United
Denham United 2–1 (a.e.t.) Swindon Town
Derby County 7–0 Steel City Wanderers
Enfield Town 3–1 Exeter City
Huddersfield Town 1–2 Fylde
Hull City 3–0 Guiseley Vixens
Ipswich Town 0–5 Cardiff City
Keynsham Town 1–2 Crystal Palace
Long Eaton United 13–0 Loughborough Students
Loughborough Foxes 9–3 Leicester City LFC
Luton Town 1–3 Milton Keynes Dons
Morecambe 0–3 Middlesbrough
Mossley Hill 0–5 Brighouse Town
Newcastle United 2–1 Leicester City
Nottingham Forest 3–1 (a.e.t.) Chorley
Portsmouth 8–2 Lowestoft Town
Queens Park Rangers 2–3 Norwich City
Southampton Saints 0–4 Gillingham
Sporting Khalsa 2–4 Chester-le-Street
Stevenage 0–3 Larkhall Athletic
Stoke City 13–0 Birmingham & West Midlands
The New Saints 3–0 Solihull
Tranmere Rovers 0–5 Liverpool Marshall Feds
West Bromwich Albion 2–1 Bradford City
West Ham United 0–10 Tottenham Hotspur
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–2 Radcliffe Olympic
W/O Forest Green Rovers A–W Brislington
W/O Leeds H–W Nuneaton Town
First round
With 36 teams progressing from the determining round, four needed to be eliminated to allow a single-elimination knockout tournament to take place. Twenty eight of the winners from the determining round were given byes to the second round, with eight teams being drawn against each other in first round ties.
25/9/2016
Blackburn Rovers 3–1 Nottingham Forest
Denham United 3–2 Brislington
Gillingham 8–2 Norwich City
Long Eaton United (M1) 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p) Liverpool Marshall Feds
Second round
16/10/2016
Charlton Athletic 3–2 C & K Basildon
Hull City 3–1 Middlesbrough
Leeds 1–4 Liverpool Marshall Feds
Loughborough Foxes 10–1 The New Saints
Stoke City 1–2 (a.e.t.) Derby County
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) Brighouse Town
AFC Wimbledon 0–2 Crystal Palace
Chester-le-Street 3–0 Blackpool Wren Rovers
Coventry United 3–0 Denham United
Gillingham 2–0 Milton Keynes Dons
Newcastle United 0–1 Blackburn Rovers
Portsmouth 3–2 Cambridge United
Tottenham Hotspur 5–1 Enfield Town
West Bromwich Albion 2–1 (a.e.t.) Fylde Ladies
30/10/2016
Basingstoke 0–5 Chichester City
W/O Cardiff City H–W Larkhall Athletic
Third round
6/11/2016
Blackburn Rovers 5–0 Loughborough Foxes
Cardiff City 7–1 Chichester City
Charlton Athletic 4–2 Portsmouth
Chester-le-Street 2–1 Derby County
Crystal Palace 1–0 Coventry United
Hull City 0–4 Liverpool Marshall Feds
West Bromwich Albion 1–0 (a.e.t.) Wolverhampton Wanderers
Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 Gillingham
Quarter-finals
11/12/2016
Liverpool Marshall Feds 0–2 Cardiff City
Charlton Athletic 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) West Bromwich Albion
Chester-le-Street 1–3 Blackburn Rovers
Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 Crystal Palace
Semi-finals
5/3/2017
Tottenham Hotspur 3–0 Cardiff City
Charlton Athletic 4–3 (a.e.t.) Blackburn Rovers
Final
7/5/2017
Charlton Athletic 0- 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0
(AET: Tottenham won 4-3 on penalties)
