CENTURION SAFFRON SETS UP ROVERS’ DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Crawley Wasps 0
Blackburn Rovers 3 (Jordan 8, 81, Flint 52)
FA Women’s National League Cup final
Pirelli Stadium, Burton
Attendance 227
28 April 2019
Striker Saffron Jordan hit her 100th Blackburn Rovers goal to set her team en route to a convincing National League Cup final victory and the completion of a League and Cup double for the second successive season.
Jordan had hit the victory clincher in the previous campaign’s 3-1 League Cup final win against Leicester City and this time bagged a brace, her goals sandwiching a Natasha Flint strike.
As well as the double-double making it four trophies in two seasons, the feat also straddled the re-branding process that had seen the League title reverting back from ‘Premier’ to its original ‘National.’
Crawley made a good start to the final, played at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium, with Rovers goalkeeper Danielle Gibbons having to make an early save from Faye Rabson.
But Jordan put Blackburn ahead in the eighth minute, turning the ball into the net from a Lauren Davies pass to make herself a goal centurion for the club. And from that point Rovers always looked the likely winners.
Captain Lynda Shepherd almost doubled the lead with a header that was cleared off the line by Crawley defender Niamh Stevenson.
Flint bagged the game’s second goal seven minutes into the second half, the striker collecting a Serena Fletcher pass then lobbing the ball over advancing keeper Frankie Gibbs and into the Wasps net.
It was almost 3-0 minutes later as first Flint then Jordan hit the woodwork within seconds of each other.
As Crawley looked to reduce the arrears Rachel Palmer forced Gibbons into a save from a well struck free-kick.
But most of the play was coming at the other end and, after Shepherd had seen another effort cleared off the line, Gibbs had to make a brilliant diving stop to deny Natasha Fenton a goal.
The keeper could not deny Jordan another goal, however. The striker put the result beyond any doubt nine minutes from time, sweeping her way past defenders before firing an angled shot into the roof of the net.
Blackburn manager Gemma Donnelly, recalling her team’s victory, said: “Crawley were doing really well in the Southern Division at the time and they were a bit of an unknown quantity to us. But after Saffron’s early goal we were always in control and overall I don’t think it was a close contest.”
After completing the double again, Donnelly’s team were to make it a massive triple success for the club with promotion to the FA Women’s Championship (re-titled at the start of this season from FA WSL2).
Twelve months after winning the Northern Premier Division but then losing the Play-Off promotion match to Southern Division winners Charlton Athletic, Rovers were this time destined to beat Coventry United in the Play-Off and so step up the the second tier of the women’s pyramid.
Crawley Wasps: Gibbs, Clapinson, Cole, Drury, Green (Flieschman 58), Palmer, Plewa, Rabson, Stevenson (Woollard 89), Young, Webber (S. Davies 75).
Blackburn Rovers: Gibbons, Jukes, Shepherd, Holbrook, L. Davies, Fenton (Walsh 87), Jordan, Flint, Makin (Taylor 67), McDonald, Fletcher.
Substitute not used: Size
FA WOMEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE PLATE 2018-19
West Bromwich Albion won the FAWNL Plate for the first time with an impressive 5-1 win against Liverpool Feds in an entertaining final played at Rugby FC’s Butlin Road.
An early Hannah George goal for the Division One Midlands team was cancelled out by Molly Farley, but Jess Davies restored Albion’s lead before the interval.
The Feds, mid-table in Division One North, continued to battle valiantly but were in the end were well beaten as goals from Laura Davies, Ria Elsmore and Natalie Murray completed West Brom’s victory.
Albion head coach Louis Sowe, in his second season at the helm, said: “I’m overwhelmed to win my first trophy at West Brom. I think the girls deserved it, they played really well on the day.
“I’m buzzing, delighted for the staff and players. They’re a very talented group, they applied themselves really well. I think the group can achieve anything they want to achieve.”
Sowe’s team obviously noted his words - three weeks after winning the Plate they finished their league season as champions of Division One Midlands and with the title, promotion to the Northern Premier Division.
FA WOMEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE CUP RESULTS 2018-19
Determining round
The competition began with a Determining Round, which consisted of all 72 teams in the FA Women's National League being drawn in pairs.
The winners of those 36 games progressed to the next stage of the competition, while the losers qualified for the 2018-19 FA Women's National League Plate.
2/9/2018
Actonians 1-2 Oxford United
Barnsley 3-4 Bolton Wanderers
Billericay Town 10-1 Maidenhead United
Blackburn Rovers 3-3 (a.e.t.) (5-4 p) Liverpool Feds
Buckland Athletic 3-0 Brislington
Cambridge United 2-0 C & K Basildon
Chesham United 2-4 Enfield Town
Coventry United 7-0 Norwich City
Crawley Wasps 8-0 Ipswich Town
Derby County 3-1 Bedworth United
Doncaster Rovers Belles 2-2 (a.e.t.) (3-4 p) Chorley
Fylde 9-0 Burton Albion
Guiseley Vixens 4-2 Chester Le Street
Huddersfield Town 3-0 Middlesbrough
Hull City 2-1 Bradford City
Larkhall Athletic 3-2 Keynsham Town
Long Eaton United 3-4 Norton & Stockton Ancients
Loughborough Foxes 4-0 Denham United
Luton Town 1-3 Cheltenham Town
Morecambe 0-5 Sunderland
Nettleham 1-2 Birmingham & West Midlands
Plymouth Argyle 4-2 Milton Keynes Dons
Poole Town 1-2 Watford
Portsmouth 2-4 Chichester City
Queens Park Rangers 3-1 Gillingham
Solihull 0-7 Brighouse Town
Southampton Saints 0-1 AFC Wimbledon
Sporting Khalsa 1-2 Leeds United
Steel City Wanderers 1-6 Newcastle United
Stevenage 1-4 Cardiff City
Stoke City 3-0 Sheffield
Swindon Town 1-5 Leyton Orient
The New Saints 0-3 Nottingham Forest
West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Burnley
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
W/O St Nicholas A-W Southampton Women's
First round
With 36 teams having progressive 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.
30/9/2018
AFC Wimbledon 4-0 Buckland Athletic
Enfield Town 3-4 Southampton Women's
Guiseley Vixens 1-2 Blackburn Rovers
Newcastle United 1-2 (a.e.t.) Chorley
Second round
14/10/2018
Billericay Town 0-2 Chichester City
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Fylde
Brighouse Town 1-2 Leeds United
Cardiff City 5-3 Cheltenham Town
Derby County 1-2 Bolton Wanderers
Huddersfield Town 1-0 Burnley
Hull City 2-1 (a.e.t.) Birmingham & West Midlands
Larkhall Athletic 2-3 (a.e.t.) AFC Wimbledon
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Chorley
Oxford United 1-3 (a.e.t.) Crawley Wasps
Queens Park Rangers 1-3 Loughborough Foxes
Stoke City 3-0 Norton & Stockton Ancients
Watford 2-3 Coventry United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-4 Sunderland
28/10/2018
Cambridge United 3-0 Leyton Orient
Southampton Women's 1-3 Plymouth Argyle
Third round
9/12/2018
AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Cambridge United
Blackburn Rovers -1 Sunderland
Cardiff City 3-4 (a.e.t.) Loughborough Foxes
Huddersfield Town 4-1 Nottingham Forest
Stoke City 6-3 Leeds United
13/1/2019
Plymouth Argyle 3-5 (a.e.t.) Crawley Wasps
Bolton Wanderers 3-1 (a.e.t.) Hull City
Chichester City 0-2 Coventry United
Quarter-finals
17/2/2018
Bolton Wanderers 1-1 (a.e.t.) (5-3 p) Stoke City
Loughborough Foxes 3-0 AFC Wimbledon
24/2/2018
Coventry United 1-2 Crawley Wasps
Huddersfield Town 1-3 Blackburn Rovers
Semi-finals
3/3/2018
Blackburn Rovers 4-0 Loughborough Foxes
Crawley Wasps 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
Final
28/4/2018
Crawley Wasps 0-3 Blackburn Rovers
